According to Mundo Deportivo, Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone spoke about the club's rising status over his 15 years in charge, and also said that the team is now under greater pressure: "Before, winning was a joy, but now it's a relief."
"I'm going through a tough time right now because we've put the club in a much more prominent position, and the demands are so high that the responsibility is enormous," Simeone said in an interview published in L'Équipe's supplement this Sunday.
Simeone believes that surpassing last season's achievements will not be easy. Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League semi-finals last season, were eliminated from the Copa del Rey on penalties, and finished fourth in the league. He said, "To improve, we need to reach the Champions League final, win the Copa del Rey, and finish in the top two in a league where Real Madrid and Barcelona are both."
The coach stated that he still has enough energy to continue leading the team, and this season he will focus on "recovering the defensive solidity that was lost last season, especially in the Champions League" and "getting the midfielders to score more goals".
“I’ve always believed that we can continue to pursue what the fans want, which is to win championships. We will do everything we can to achieve that goal. When I first arrived, Atlético Madrid hadn’t won the league title since 1996, and we won it in 2014. There was an 18-year gap between the two league titles. We won it again in 2021, seven years later. The team must continue to shorten that gap,” Simeone said.
Simeone has not set an end for his managerial career at Atletico Madrid. He said he is not trying to break Wenger's record of 22 years at Arsenal and Ferguson's record of 27 years at Manchester United: "I'm just thinking about the energy, strength and humility we need to stay here."
“We are in a club that competes with two super teams. We are in a good position now, but the teams behind us also want to compete with us. At Atlético Madrid, you have to be 110% at all times; 100% is not enough to win in Spain. You have to surpass yourself every day and you can’t lose your humility because the teams behind you are also constantly improving,” he said.
The coach did not rule out the possibility of coaching the Argentine national team in the future, but said it was "something for the future." He praised the Argentine team's attitude in the last World Cup and also praised Scaloni for "doing a huge job." Simeone admitted that Spain performed better in the final and, speaking about his country, said, "Some things were done well, some things weren't." When asked if he would ever coach Real Madrid or Barcelona, he replied, "One is definitely not. The other, I don't think so either."
