Simeone: "After losing in Greece, us qualifying is at stake in every match "

Simeone said Olympiacos is a complicated team and that in the first leg, "it didn’t surprise us because we had seen it. They play well and they are a string team at home. Both in Malmö and against Juventus, they have appeared as a very serious team. We imagine ourselves in a match in that tune that we are talking about. What’s important is how we respond at the start of the match and interpret well the characteristics of the rival, because they’re very good. That has made them very competitive in a group in which everything is wide open. That will make the team have to play a very tense match, and from the intensity and speed that we imprint on the game, we can take the match to where we want to."

Regarding what can be contributed by Raúl García as a forward or Griezmann, he comments, "the characteristics are similar and different. They are strikers. Raúl is more used to working on defence. Antoine works very well and the other day he did great. One is better at set pieces and the other in the one-on-one."

As to whether tomorrow a win can qualify the team, he was emphatic in pointing out that "I am not thinking so far ahead. After losing in Greece, us qualifying is at stake in every match. We depend on playing a good, very intense game that will take us where we want to go and get us the result we want."

To finish, four Atlético players are among FIFA’s best eleven, Arda Turan being one of them. Simeone pointed out that “thoughts about Arda are always the best. He is a great man, committed to the cause and we value him greatly. It doesn’t surprise me that he is among the best. He has a huge talent and competes fantastically."