Atletico Madrid President and Jan Oblak explain Diego Simeone style change – ‘He realised’

Atletico Madrid are heading to Barcelona on Sunday looking to take a scalp, and set out their title credentials too. One of the most interesting questions will be how Diego Simeone approaches the match.

Generally, he has approached matches against Barcelona and Real Madrid sitting deeper and looking to counter, which was the case again during their September 3-1 win over Los Blancos, but week to week they have gone after opponents. Keeping more of the ball, and still retaining a verticality, Atletico Madrid have been one of the most exciting sides to watch – only Girona have scored more goals this season.

Atletico Madrid President Enrique Cerezo explained to Cadena SER that El Cholo had an epiphany last season.

“I’ve know ‘Cholo’ since we took him from Sevilla when I was vice president, I kew him when he came from Lazio when I was already president, and I’ve known him since he arrived as a coach. I have always had a magnificent and wonderful relationship with him. He is a very smart guy and he has a great virtue, he is also intelligent.”

“He knows very well what he has to do in each game. He has realised that with the players he has now he can play a different type of football than he did in another era, that maybe they were better or worse, but he is adapting to the circumstances of what he has. Now he is playing on the attack and before, according to critics, he played defensively.”

Cerezo’s statements are hard to deny for regular watchers of Los Colchoneros, and it is something that goalkeeper Jan Oblak also sees.

“It’s clear that football evolves, and so do the players. I would say that we are playing a little differently than we did in the past, which is something completely normal… The truth is that we are doing things