"If Barça want Messi to play well, he has to play on the right"

Diego Simeone appeared in front of the press ahead of Atlético's Copa del Rey clash against Barcelona on Wednesday.

What is your message to the fans? "The fans know what they feel when they come to the Calderón. I don't feel the need for them to do anything different than what they usually do."

How do you see the game? "It's a home game like any other that we will take on as we usually do. We will try and pay the game that we want to play. I hope we can do so."

Will Koke play? "We'll see how he is. We're waiting to see how he responds. But whoever plays will carry out what we want in the way we want."

How will Barça line up? "Barça historically have a football philosophy, which they won't change. Messi is back in form playing on the right with Suárez in the middle, where he has more influence. It was the only change they could make. It's a question of finding the team's balance. If they want Messi to play well, he has to play on the right.

How will you set up? Go for it from the start of with patience? "I can do both as I see fit. The other day in the Bernabéu we were 1-0 up in 30 seconds. Whatever you want to do you have to think about the result from the first match. We'll try to make the game comfortable for us. We know what we need to do and we'll try to do it."

Why did you train these past two days in the Calderón? How is the pitch? "We wanted to train in the Calderón and to get used to the cold. Pitches at this time of year are generally bad and it could be that it's not in its best state tomorrow."

Are set-pieces going to determine the outcome? "We have improved on set-pieces in defence and attack a lot. We are looking at alternatives though. They have tall players, and Suárez who is more aggressive, and that will make us better defensively."

How did you evaluate your son's performance for Argentina in the under-20s?

The kids at the South American Championship are doing really well. And Giovanni is playing well as a number nine, who has to score goals. When he doesn't I'll criticize him, but as he is at the moment I congratulate him."

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/15PLOkT

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