Diego Simeone responds to Real Madrid controversy ahead of Madrid derby

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone dodged the subject of Vinicius Junior and Endrick Felipe as best he could on Wednesday, after the two Real Madrid forwards escaped red cards against Alaves on Tuesday night. They would have been suspended for the Madrid derby on Sunday had that been the case.

Simeone was reluctant to get into the discussion on refereeing when it comes to Real Madrid, and neither was he willing to discuss Los Blancos having two days more rest than his side.

“[We] Manage recovery days as best we can. You saw that Koke did not train the final part today, because you see everything. We did it to take some of the training load off him, and compensate. As we have managed it almost always. We have not changed much, looking based on the loads they have, so that the training sessions are based on those loads so that they arrive at the game in the best possible way.”

Diego Simeone asked about #Vinicius and #Endrick escaping red cards, and suspensions for the derby:

“You ask me a question so I can say what you want me to say. You already said everything, I don't need to say anything else.” pic.twitter.com/n8y8V2CPzS

— Football España (@footballespana_) September 25, 2024

El Cholo also backed star signings Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez to find their feet again, with criticism slowly arriving for the former Manchester City forward.

“We are focused on generating greater scoring situations. I have no doubt that with time and the relationships that still need to be generated, which are not yet fully formed, they will perform better. It is our job to make them feel better and theirs to transmit to us those relationships that are generated in football.”

Finally, Simeone was quizzed on the system he might employ going forward, with Los Rojiblancos alternating between four and five at the back at times.

“We have varied a lot. We are always looking for what we believe can have better chemistry. Some games are not the same as others, sometimes things change along the way and luckily we have a group of guys who adapt very well to these changes. It happened with Leipzig, it happened with Rayo and we improved by changing the system.”

Diego Simeone tested 4 different variations for the attack ahead of tomorrow’s game:

1. Griezmann – Sørloth – Correa – Lino
2. Griezmann – G. Simeone – Correa – Lino
3. Griezmann – Álvarez – Correa@PedroFullanaSER pic.twitter.com/5qNIBdyOr4

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) September 25, 2024

“It depends on the stimulus, the commitment, the enthusiasm… You can play with four forwards and not concede an attack and play with eight at the back and receive many shots. It is closely associated with commitment,” Simeone said pointedly, after his players slumped to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

Simeone was asked about their ambitions, after dropping points to Rayo, and he was quick to point out that only twice in the last 14 years have they surprised people by beating Real Madrid and Barcelona to the title. Los Colchoneros travel to Celta Vigo on Thursday night to face an in-form Celta Vigo at Balaidos.

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