Giménez reunion: Simeone thanks former defensive leader and challenges Barcelona
Atlético Madrid host Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday night, and with them José María Giménez. Diego Simeone paid tribute to the longtime defender and says his team can compete for the title.
Archive image · Photo: Carlos Delgado / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Atlético Madrid face a special game on Saturday night (9 p.m. local time) at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano: Visitors Deportivo La Coruña bring along José María Giménez, who left Atlético after 13 seasons. Coach Diego Simeone had warm words for the center back ahead of the reunion.
Giménez was "the person and the man who helped me, who accompanied me, who held me together in the dressing room," Simeone said. He called him one of the most important center backs of his tenure: "We love him very much, and he knows it." The Argentine expects Deportivo to be "a brave team."
Asked whether Atlético can compete with Barcelona for the title, Simeone said: "Yes, of course, you can always compete." That does not change the fact that Barça have "a great team," he added. He declined to discuss Sunday's Clásico: "I'm thinking about A Coruña."