Koke on how Atletico Madrid should treat Champions League final against Real Madrid
Koke has told his Atletico Madrid teammates to treat Champions League final against their city rivals Real Madrid as “as if it were our last.
“The entire coaching staff have prepared us to reach our best form,” the midfielder said at a Press conference.
“We have more preparation time than we did Lisbon. That year, we played a final against Barcelona [on the last day of the season in La Liga] and were tired from it. This year, we’re better physically.”
Koke on how Atletico Madrid should treat Champions League final against Real Madrid
[MyAd]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQbeYUzd9k
He continued, “Things have changed [since 2014]. Two years have passed, and I think we have to defend better and take advantage of their mistakes because there’s very little room for error in games like these.
“We’ve spent two weeks preparing for the final, but we’ve done well and we’re at ease. We’re training with desire, and in the final week [of build-up], that’s when you’re most focused.
“[On Juanfran and Filipe Luis], when we push up, they give us superiority and that helps us.”
[MyAd]
He further added, “[Marcelo] attacks a lot. He has great quality and is one of the best at Madrid, so we’ll see how we stop him.
“[Madrid’s] strengths are in defence and on the counterattack. They’ve greatly improved with Casemiro in midfield.
“They’re a great team, so we’ll watch videos to find out what their weaknesses are.”
He also said, “I’m no more nervous than my teammates, but we have to treat the final as if it were our last. If we win, we’ll have that feeling we’ve grown up of dreaming of and feel bigger [than we thought we’d be].
“It would be great for all the fans who can’t go to Milan to be with us [in our final week of training], but it’s not up to me. The fans always support us from anywhere in the world.
You never know [on who will win the CL]. Whether we take the initiative or that the game is tighter, it’s one game and you never know what can happen…”