Diego Simeone has revealed what he admires most about upcoming Champions League opponents Chelsea and their manager Antonio Conte.
Simeone’s Atletico Madrid host the reigning Premier League champions at Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday evening and will look to give their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage a huge boost with a victory.
Speaking ahead of the contest, in quotes attributed to him by AS, Simeone explained that Chelsea’s “balance” throughout their entire team was something that he marvelled over more than any other attribute they possessed.
He said: “This Chelsea is different from 2014. I am a big fan, they work collectively with balance and last season they won the league in the manner that they did.
“They are a very tough opponent with a manager with the ability to tell them what he wants. It’s a difficult and very nice game.”
On Conte specifically, the Argentine offered up his verdict on comparisons between himself and the Italian given their respective desires for their teams to be extremely hard to beat – tactics that give each side a good platform to build upon going forward.
-Who’s better. You or Conte?
-Simeone: Conte.— The Blues (@TheBlues___) September 27, 2017
He continued: “Many teams look for different things to give them the chance to win. In the case of Chelsea, with Conte, they are not like us. He has always played the same way.
“There are similarities in terms of working but they are not like us, because he played and worked in the exact same way in his previous teams, at Siena and at Juventus.”
Simeone was also asked about comparisons between Chelsea ace Thibaut Courtois – the keeper having spent time on loan at Atletico previously – and current Los Rojiblancos number one Jan Oblak.
However, he opted to remain impartial over who he considered to be the better shot stopper, having worked with both during his time in the Spanish capital.
He added: “They are the two best keepers in the world. I really like them both.”