JAKARTA - Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, asked his team to appear aggressive and merciless when visiting Manchester United's headquarters in the second leg of the 2021/2022 Champions League last 16, Wednesday, March 16 early morning WIB. The reason, they are required to win to qualify for the next round, or at least a draw by scoring two goals.
As is known, Atletico failed to win in the first leg which took place at home. At that time, the two teams drew 1-1. To that end, Simeone asked his team to look for loopholes to turn things around.
"It will be an intense game in a fantastic stadium," Simeone said at his pre-match press conference.
"We have to find the best way against them. With games like this strategy can change. We have to get out of the game and control the action, be aggressive and apply intense pressure which is our strength," he continued.
Simeone will also be wary of Cristiano Ronaldo's movements in the match later. He is sure, the Portuguese player will look good like last weekend when he scored a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League.
"He (Cristiano Ronaldo) played superbly, with pleasure and enthusiasm for his team yesterday," said the Argentine coach.
"But we have (Joao) Felix who has become very important as an individual player but also in his efforts at a collective level, which is important. He has what our team needs."
Atletico have important capital ahead of this match. Previously, the club nicknamed Los Rojiblancos had won at home to an English team, namely when Liverpool and Chelsea met. However, Simeone assesses that the situation will not affect the game when meeting MU in the second leg later.
"Every game is different. It's true that we played and won against Premier League clubs in their stadiums in the past, but we know the strength and importance of rival teams in front of their fans and the atmosphere in their stadiums," Simeone concluded.
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