Simeone and Conceiçao, head duel

Surrounded by the expectations generated by the eleven that Diego Pablo Simeone will choose, Atlético will face this Wednesday at the Metropolitano (21.00, Movistar Champions League) against tough Porto.

A club always competitive in the Champions League (winner in 1987 and 2004) that lands in Madrid led by ex-Madrid player Pepe and a bunch of good players such as midfielder Otávio, Colombian midfielder Luis Díaz, or Mexican Corona.

The Spanish Toni Martínez, raised in the quarry of Valencia, appears, along with Díaz, as the top scorer with three goals.

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In front, Atlético, whose lineups are awaiting under a morbid duality. The cast of first-rate players recruited has found that those who play are as important as those who stay on the bench. In this sense, Porto coach Sergio Conceiçao recalled that Diego Pablo Simeone has already gone through a similar situation as a player. "We played together at Lazio, it was a difficult team to manage because we all had a very strong character, it was a year of a lot of internal fight to win minutes, it was a very good year, we won the

" recalled the Portuguese coach. That group led by the Swedish Eriksson was full of roosters: Nesta, Mihailovic, Verón, Nedved, Marcelo Salas, Boksic ... Shortly before, Simeone had referred to his Portuguese colleague as “a

". “We both are,” Conceiçao replied, “we represent a group of very passionate people, Atlético fans are very passionate, and they are very close to Simeone's personality and mine”.

From the last game with Espanyol, the rojiblanco coach was very unhappy with the first half. At half-time he removed Trippier, Hermoso and Correa and ten minutes later the replacement was Antoine Griezmann, who today will have his particular reunion with the rojiblanca fans. The Frenchman, gray on his debut, was included by Simeone in the rotations he plans to do until he finds a stable team. "Like all colleagues, be ready for 30, 60 or 90 minutes," he settled. As architects of the comeback against Espanyol, Lodi, Lemar, Kondogbia and João Félix are running to enter the eleven. Like De Paul, booked in Barcelona.

Simeone will not be able to count on Trippier, due to stomach problems, nor on Savic, sanctioned for four games for an elbow to Chelsea center-back Rudiger, and his subsequent slights to the referee in the second round of the last 16 last year.

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