Diego Simeone lauds ‘unbelievable’ Liverpool man he claims is ‘extraordinary’

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Diego Simeone has reserved praise for a certain Liverpool figure ahead of Atletico Madrid’s trip to Anfield in the Champions League.

The Reds crashed out of the Champions League last season in the Round of 16 to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain despite new Aston Villa man Harvey Elliott securing a 1-0 win in Paris in the first leg.

Simeone suffered two losses against Liverpool in 2021 during the group stages, with Jurgen Klopp getting revenge for when his side were eliminated from the competition by Atletico Madrid in the year prior.

Liverpool stand to earn £32.1 million in the Champions League this season if Arne Slot can replicate his efforts in the league phase last year.

And while there is a history of bad blood between the managers, Simeone had nothing but kind words for Slot ahead of the clash.

Diego Simeone lauds Arne Slot’s impact at Liverpool

When speaking in his pre-match press conference, Simeone explained what he enjoys about Liverpool’s style of play while heaping praise on Slot.

“The fact that they are direct, they have very quick transitions. They interpret the game in a very simple way to make sure they get many players in the box. They use their wide players, and they have a wonderful centre back who can knock the ball around.

“And to be honest, this simplicity of the game that maybe some people don’t see, it shows you how hard they work, how good their footballers are, and obviously their manager did wonderful things last season, extraordinary things.”

The Reds are one of the early favourites to top the league phase once again, but will face a difficult fixture schedule this year.

Liverpool will face Inter Milan at the San Siro and host Real Madrid for the second consecutive season, with Trent Alexander-Arnold set for an Anfield reunion.

Simeone will be without former Liverpool transfer target Julian Alvarez for the Champions League curtain raiser, who scored 24 goals across all competitions last season.

Meanwhile, Alexander Isak is expected to be involved in a limited capacity on Wednesday following his £125m deadline day move from Newcastle United ahead of his potential Liverpool debut.

What happened between Diego Simeone and Arne Slot?

The pair’s only encounter occurred during Slot’s time at Feyenoord when the Eredivisie outfit faced off against Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Yannick Carrasco was dismissed in the 41st minute as Feyenoord held onto a one-goal advantage heading into half-time.

Angel Correa equalised in the final ten minutes for Atletico, who looked likely to earn a hard-fought draw until Naoufal Bannis scored a 93rd-minute winner for Slot.

Simeone was then seen aggressively pushing the Liverpool boss after the final whistle as he believed Slot was mocking him following the last-minute loss.

While it appears there is no bad blood between the managers, Simeone has developed a reputation for his touchline antics, and the Reds supporters could be set for a fiery encounter at Anfield.