Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone
is delighted with the way his summer signings have helped improve the
team but refused to rule out more arrivals during this transfer window...Continue to see what he said...
The
Rojiblancos have signed a host of players over the past few months,
including Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich, after losing some of their
key components - namely Diego Cost - from their La Liga title-winning
squad of last season.
Mandzukic got his Atleti career off to a
perfect start when he scored in his side's second-leg Supercopa de
Espana clash against rivals Real Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on
Friday – a goal that clinched the trophy for Simeone's men.
And
following his important strike against the European champions, Simeone
was delighted with the impact of Mandzukic and fellow new arrivals
Antoine Griezmann and Guilherme Siqueira.
"The new players give
me other benefits. They are improving. I have seen an important match of
Mandzukic, Griezmann gave us an improvement in the second half,
Siqueira had a great game," Simeone said.
"The squad is not closed. Anything can happen.
"There
have been at least four changes because Mandzukic is not [Diego] Costa,
Griezmann is not [David] Villa, Siqueira is not Filipe [Luis] and we'll
see how the team grows without losing the essence."
The
Supercopa de Espana win over Real helped, in part, banish the memories
of May when Atletico lost the Champions League final to their fierce
rivals.
However, Simeone admits that, while his team's latest
triumph cannot completely erase the disappointment of losing in Lisbon,
the victory has given satisfaction to the Atleti players.
"It's not the same as the Champions League. We live today's game," he said.
"The other time it did not work out, but we are always competitive and that makes us very proud."
Simeone’s
men kick off their title defence when they play their first game of the
new Primera Liga season away to Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
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