“We will go to their stadium knowing what we will find, a team that plays well, with strong, tall players and people who support them. We know that.” We will suffer, but we will have space and we have to enter well“, supposedly Simeone After the end of the first leg against Dortmund.
The yellow wall is those people pushing the German team, the Westfallen Stadion's south stand, which can seat 25,000 people for Bundesliga matches, but only 16,000 in the Champions League because UEFA regulations require all seats to be benches. But no one is sitting despite the temporary seating the club has installed to show that the yellow and black wall is more imposing and more vertical.
Atletico is not afraid of the atmosphere they will find, as it is accustomed to it despite the poor performance the team is presenting outside its stadium this season. And the yellow wall isn't too bad this season either. Although they were unbeaten in Europe, they only won two of the four matches they played at home. In the German League, they lost four matches at Westfalen Stadium.
For this Simeone cares more about space than the environment. In order to have a place to run and a lane to put the ball in the desired place. This is what Antoine wants Griezmann.
“I think he is in the right place and with the right coach and it shows. He changes the tempo of the team's play with his touch and position and possesses brutal talent Who has fun and makes his teammates better. “He is clearly one of the two or three best players in the league,” Girona coach Michel analyzed last Saturday after the Frenchman scored two goals for his team. Simeone, convinced that the '7' had regained his best form at the crucial moment of the season, said: “I've seen him be much more flexible, more flexible than him.”
Griezmann's physical condition has been a major concern for Simeone in recent weeks. He injured his ankle at San Siroin the first leg against Inter and missed four matches, including the second leg of the cup semi-final against Athletic.
He had to play again in the return match against Inter, but it did not go to penalties because he was substituted in extra time and also played against Inter, but He did not respond to his team's invitation to play the friendly matches against Germany and Chile. But to him it meant much more than that. His absence broke the possibility of continuing to add games to the game 84 consecutive matches he played with France. Since June 13, 2017, none of them are missing. Next on the list with her pick is Lillian Thuram, who just turned 44 years old.
The physicist asked him to stop. Griezmann was again out with his ankle covered in ice from the first leg against Dortmund. But he was able to play against Girona and be the best, just as he was against Dortmund.
“We need it like this. He is our most important player. “We want him to be able to give everything he has in this final,” Simeone said after the Frenchman’s two goals last Saturday. He added: “We are happy with all the work Antoine has done.”
Griezmann is the team's top scorer, having scored 21 goals in 41 matches in all competitions, and is also the one who provides the most assists. He has dealt eight and Riquelme is next with six.
The Frenchman always adds to the team. “We know we need a draw or a win. “We want to go to the semi-finals no matter what,” he said after the match against Girona. Since 2017, Atletico have not reached the penultimate round of the Champions League. Griezmann wants to regain that space.
