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| Diego Simeone |
Leicester’s revival – winning
five games in a row in the Premier League and six in all competitions
under Craig Shakespeare – has not gone unnoticed in the Spanish capital.
But
Simeone will still have finished the Madrid derby brimming with
confidence after he watched Antoine Griezmann score a late leveler that
means it has now been four seasons since Real have beaten Atletico at
the Bernabeu.
Even so, he warned: ‘This
is a team that was able to win the English league. We know that the
game will be very tough against a rival that is similar to us.
‘We also know that we are not facing the same team that went into the knockout draw.’
He was asked if he thought it was a shame
that Griezmann was leaving. He laughed and responded: ‘Well I don’t know
where he is going. There was no one better than him out there today.’
The
Frenchman had outplayed both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale and he
continues to look worthy of his €100m (£85.6m) buy-out clause.
Asked
about his stunning development over recent seasons Simeone said: ‘At
the start I argued with many people when I put him in the centre.
‘People
said he was a winger and that he had to play wide. But you could
already see that he had everything he needed to play inside.
‘He
could turn on the ball, he was good in the air and it has taken him
time – the first four months he found it difficult – but I am happy with
how things have gone for him.’
Zidane was asked after the game if he felt keeping his job depended on Madrid finishing the job of winning the league.
He said: ‘You will have to ask someone else that question.
‘I am just the coach. I have all the pride that goes with coaching this club but I am not going to speculate on the future.’
Defender
Pepe broke two ribs in an accidental clash with team-mate Toni Kroos in
the second half and will miss both Champions League quarter-final legs
against Bayern Munich.
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