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For the third straight year, Atlético Madrid have trekked to Munich to play at Allianz Arena. Atlético will take part in the Audi Cup alongside Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Napoli. The latter is Atlético’s first opponent on Tuesday, with the winner making a quick turnaround to Wednesday’s final against either Bayern or Liverpool.
Diego Simeone spoke to the gathered media on Monday, alongside Carlo Ancelotti, Jürgen Klopp and Maurizio Sarri. Klopp became an amateur audio technician during the presser as Simeone’s mic malfunctioned - and the German boss managed to patch things up!
Here are some highlights from Cholo’s presser:
On Atlético’s first appearance in the Audi Cup:
“It’s great being here at the Audi Cup. It’s great to be here, and I hope that we’ll play a major role here.
“I’m never quite relaxed when I’m in Munich, because when you’re playing against such a strong team [like] Napoli or Bayern, you’re always very excited.”
On preparing for Napoli:
“For me, we’re are at an intermediate stage of our preparations. We were in Mexico...and we have to make sure that we get our positioning right. And I think we have to see how far we are and what Atlético Madrid can do.
“They’re a very good team - especially between the lines, they’re very dangerous. And if we win, we’ve got to play against Liverpool or Bayern.”
On keeping hold of Antoine Griezmann and other star players:
“We’re talking about the players that we have here who are available to us and also how hard the club is trying to keep all the players here. All the players want to stay with Atlético. They want to achieve even higher goals and get even better as a team.
“Griezmann? I’m very happy that the best team[s] in the world want him. That really speaks well of us.”
On the possible signing of Diego Costa:
“If he comes in January, we can’t say anything about that yet. All that’s important are the players that we have right now.
I won’t speak about Diego Costa right now, he’s a Chelsea player. We’re talking about the lads who are here now and who will start the season. That’s what’s important.”
On his future at Atlético:
“I’m under contract [here], it’s a very strong contract, and of course I want to continue with Atlético Madrid so that we can improve and continue on our path we’ve been on the past six years.”