Simeone: “Messi? It happened to me with Maradona, when you have the best it’s easier.”

The Argentine coach appeared before the media after his team’s last training session at Cerro del Espino before receiving Barcelona in the League, this Sunday at the Metropolitano, with many proper names.

Will you have a special chat before the game against Barcelona with a kid like Barrios?

We didn’t figure out who will play in the middle. Koke, Lemar are training very well… Soccer is a game and asks you to do what we see in training sessions and matches that you have played, whether you are 20 or 35 years old. The personality of each one comes from the confidence of each player, there will be no talk if it is your turn to play.

Could it be a turning point to win against Barcelona?

Every game that I have had to coach Atlético is an opportunity. To be good with each other. With our people, in what we have to play. Since I arrived at the club, I have always felt that each game is an important moment for everyone.

Is it a final not to say goodbye to LaLiga?

We face all the games and we want to see them as if it were a final. The next game in Almería will be in the same way and so on and you also broadcast it in the same way. There is no bigger game than the one you have to play. Barcelona is doing very well in the league, it is the team with the most World Cups, a coach with clear ideas and plays very well.

They have found the positive streak.

Negative outcomes bring negative energy and positive ones make the team feel more secure. Tomorrow we are going to try to continue in this line and trying to take the game to where we can do damage.

Without Messi is Barça less?

Where Messi is will always be decisive, be it in the national team, in his current team or in Barcelona. With a player of Leo’s characteristics there is a better chance of winning. When I played the World Cup with Maradona, already a veteran, there was a feeling that it is difficult for us to lose, because we have the best. And if you have the best it is easier to win.

Is it an opportunity for João Félix?

It is a good opportunity for the team. Continue to grow, improve as a team and capture what we want in the game. Being able to take the game to where we want to take it and the needs of a team like Barcelona.

The first time he faced Barcelona, ​​he lined up Courtois, Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Filipe, Tiago, Gabi, Koke, Arda Turan, Adrián and Falcao. Is this Atleti closer to Barça than back then?

great team Difficult, it is very difficult to answer. It’s a good question. Anything I answer will be used against me. They are different teams, it is very difficult to compare.

Xavi’s Barcelona did them a lot of damage on the wing last season.

They did very well, we started winning, but with their ends wide open they hurt us a lot on the outside. With Raphinha, Dembélé, Ansu Fati, Memphis, Ferran… anyone in one against one are very important players.