Atletico de Madrid boss Diego Simeone has said that Real Madrid fans respect him even if they don’t like him or his team.
Los Colchoneros knocked Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey last week, seeing off Carlo Ancelotti’s me 4-2 over two legs. The Vicente Calderon also beat their more illustrious rivals in La Liga earlier on this campaign and the Spanish Supercopa. Infact, Real haven’t beaten Atletico in their last five attempts, since defeating them in the Champions League final last May.
Speaking in an interview with fifa.com, Simeone said while Madrid fans are probably frustrated with him and his team, he gets a lot of respect for Madridistas when he bumps into them in the street.
“I imagine they’ve got mixed feelings. On the one hand I’m sure they don’t like me, yet on the other I get shown a lot of respect when I’m out on the street,” he stated.
And he added: “I get a lot of people coming up to me saying ‘I’m a Real Madrid fan, but I’d honestly like to congratulate you. I like the way your guys work and how much of a team they are’. I think that recently Atletico have shown something that people need in their everyday lives, which is energy.”
