Ahead of our Champions League match against Atletico Madrid, we sat down with Billy Edwards, a writer over at the fantastic AtleticoFans.com to get the inside track on what we can expect against Atleti along with answers to your Twitter questions:
Q. How much will Atletico miss Ansaldi and Miranda, especially given their contribution to the team so far this season ?
The defensive unit is so crucial for us, although I actually think we are better equipped this year to cope with absences than we were last year. Having seen the job Miranda did on Tévez in the first game he will be a big miss, but Giménez has been incredible since he came in and I think is more than up to the task. Ansaldi had also just began to establish himself as the starter at left-back so it’s a shame he’ll miss out, but it’s not like when Filipe got injured last year. I think we’ll be okay without them.
Q. How are Juventus viewed by the Atletico supporters ?
Everyone knows that Juve is one of the biggest and most successful clubs in Europe. Most fans have great respect for your history and of course legends of the game like Buffon and Pirlo. Under Simeone our style is more Italian than Spanish, so I think we see the current team quite similarly to ourselves – very well organised and well drilled, with a solid defence as the foundation. It should be a great occasion and a fantastic atmosphere.
Q. Which Juventus player do you think Atletico should fear the most ?
Like Atleti, I see Juve as a team rather than a group individuals, with anyone capable of being a match-winner. Pirlo missed the game in the Calderón and will make a big difference, but I think Tevez is the man we have to stop. As I said before, he was barely involved back in October but with Juve needing to attack I can’t see that being the case on Tuesday. He’s the type of player who can come up with something special completely out of nothing, and from following him since his time in England, I know he has a habit of producing big moments in big matches.
Q. …and which player do you view as the weakest link in the Atletico side ?
Some might look at 19 year-old Giménez as a potential weak link but not me, the kid is going to be a superstar. I’d probably have to say Guilherme Siqueira. It’s not that I don’t rate him, but defending is not his strong point and he has a tendency of making rash decisions and conceding silly fouls. We’ve lost twice in La Liga this season; against Valencia where he missed a crucial penalty, and Real Sociedad where he was sent off, and he also gave away a penalty in the Bernabéu. He was in the Benfica team that knocked Juve out of last year’s Europa League, but target him and you could get some joy.
Q. …similarly, which Juve player would you most want in the Atleti team and why ?
Tevez would be fantastic under Simeone, but looking at our team and where we need improving, I would probably say Arturo Vidal. We were linked with him briefly in the summer, and although I knew it was impossible I couldn’t help but dream. He is probably the most complete midfielder in the game at the moment and would be so perfect for us. Hopefully he manages to fully recover from the injury he had and regain his best form.
Q. Somewhat off topic, but which Atletico forward is most loved by the fans and why? (Torres, Aguero, Falcao or Costa)
Torres, no doubt. Agüero was the most adored when he was here, but he disgraced himself when leaving by trying so hard to force a move across town. Torres on the other hand is one of our own, he was the shining light in one of the most difficult periods in our history and represents what Atleti is all about. Forlán, Falcao and Costa all played massive parts in some of our recent successes, but without the contributions of Torres before them I highly doubt whether any of them would’ve happened. Hopefully he’ll come back someday.
Q. How do you think Atleti will lineup on the night ?
I think it will be the same as in Elche on Saturday – Moyá; Juanfran, Godín, Giménez, Siqueira; Gabi, Tiago, Koke, Arda; Raúl García and Mandžukić.
Personally I’d love to see Griezmann in there, but away from home he is used more as an impact sub at the moment. Mario Suárez may also play above Tiago, although most fans would rather he didn’t. The rest of the team pretty much pick themselves.
Q. …and lastly, what’s your fondest Atleti Champions League memory ?
I’ve been lucky enough to see a good amount of recent Champions League games live including last season’s final and the win against Juve, but the best was definitely the semi-final at Stamford Bridge. I was there with two other writers from AtléticoFans and witnessed probably the biggest performance we have produced this side of the millenium. The team was out on it’s feet in La Liga, but somehow we went there and absolutely played Chelsea off the pitch. Everything was perfect, the result, the atmosphere, even getting to see Torres score, it was a night I’ll never forget.
Good job guys! I’m sad i’ll miss tomorrow’s match, but i work tomorrow and i can not leave!
(by the way a friend of mine is crazy juve fan and he thinks Juve will win 4-0)…
Good luck to your team, hope you lose tomorrow, but i always like Juve! The team that had Nedved!
¡Aupa Atleti désde Grécia!
Atleast hope for a draw so we both advance :p
4-0 seems a bit too much but I fucking hope we can beat Atletico 2-0! Good luck in La Liga, not so much tonight 😛
Thanks for answering my question, the off topic one!!
Good luck for Atleti except for tomorrow!
”Under Simeone our style is more Italian than Spanish”
This sentence explains completely why i love Simeone’s Atletico.
Also, for you Atleti fans, In Holland we have a commentator called Sierd de Vos, he is probably my favorite dutch football commentator, he reported to us from Brazil every day about the dutch team during the world cup. He is a big follower of Spanish football, he even speaks pretty good Spanish. And he is, as he calls it, a socio of Atleti. Hopefully i spelled everything right. I watched some kind of small documentary of him in Spain ahead of Atletico – Real i think where he visited the women who puts flowers near the cornor flag every match. It was a very interesting watch. He also guided the viewers through Madrid a little. It was probably the only Atletico – Real match he didn’t do the commentary because he went to watch the match in the stadium.
Only those who have a good taste in football love Atleti .. and no one have better taste in it than the Dutch !
socio del Atleti .. you spelled it right, and that great lady who puts “el ramo de flores” on the left south corner of the Calderon is called Margarita Luengo
It was nice to read an interview with one of your authors in our website and with one of ours in yours
39 official games at your home without a defeat .. what a scary number !
let’s see if you can make it 40 tonight
Good luck in La Liga, hope you win it again.
They talked about when Roberto Carlos i believe kicked the flowers after he scored in Calderon and how he almost got murdered :p I like these kind of things and ever since i watched that i always check if they are there when i watch an Atletico match. She told him that her husband is unable to go to the stadium or even watch the matches on tv anymore due to his health. Pretty sad.
I wish Billy have asked Rav the same question :
” How Are Atleti viewed by Juventus Supporters ”
because I see many Juve fans repeating the same lame lie that was made up by Spanish media that we are a “violent team” .. while after week 14 we are the 15th team who committed more fouls, and we are the second who suffered more fouls
while Sevilla who are on the top of fouls-committed table from week one until now and who finished on the top of it in the last few seasons never been called violent !
But I have a great respect for Juve, it’s my favorite team in Italy, although I only count 30 league titles .. until your football federation and your law courts say otherwise !
The most forward loved by me Rav -and by many Atleti fans- is the one you didn’t mention :
Diego Forlan
but just as Billy said : the vast majority will say Torres .. and he should be
Does Atletico have such a bad reputation in Spain? First time I hear this. I like Atletico a lot, far more than I like Barca or Real, I’m sick and tired of those two.
About the amount of titles, you need to know more about what happened in reality and not the BS the media made out of it, it’s 32 titles and nothing less.
Nice of you to come and comment here in a nice way, it’s cool to read this.
I also used to love Forlan, until his move to Inter xD
well, I wouldn’t call it a bad reputation, it’s more of a dirty propaganda
you are lucky to be a fan of a team from Italy where there are no MARCA or AS !
in almost every pre-game press conference one of their mercenary asks the coach of the opponent team : ” what do you think about Atleti’s violence ? ”
and the most honest answer and the most shocking and disappointing for them came surprisingly from Ancelotti when he said :
” they are not violent, they are intense .. football is a sport for men, not for girls” !
Oh Italy also has its fair share of bullshit newspapers 😛
Ancelotti is right, he’s a great coach imho.
Juve also suffers from a lot of negativity, always the same things that haters keep on circlejerking about. Guess it’s a common thing for any top team
In Holland (and other places in the world, but Holland is pretty extreme) Juve is viewed as one of the dirtiest clubs in the world. Dutch people, Ajax fans mostly and even Ajax players from the 90s claim we stole the 1996 CL. While the Juventus team from the 90s should be one of the greatest teams, they are labeled as doping using monsters in Holland.
The Calciopoli incident is also blamed for 95% on Juve here, while if you look it up, like 17 of the 20 clubs would be found guilty of match fixing at the time. Even now they claim we bought a match when even the smallest mistake goes our way, while the people who did match fixing in 2006 are long gone from the club.
Ancelotti knows exactly how that playing style goes. Like Billy said, this Atletico is playing more like the Italian way than the Spanish way. Ancelotti can’t turn his back on the Italian way. Tbh i think Real also plays like this at times. Strong defence and lethal attack.
I supported Atletico in the CL final against Madrid. I really like their playing style under Simeone and if i had to chose a team from Spain, i’d pick Atletico.