'I helped Diego Simeone and Atletico win in England - here's why he's so dangerous for Arsenal'

Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid are chasing a win away to Arsenal which would see them book their place in the final of the Champions League

When Diego Simeone takes his Atletico Madrid team to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, he will aim to preserve an impressive record against English opposition. That record began in the 2013/14 season against Chelsea and one of the stars of that side - midfielder Mario Suarez - anticipates one of the manager’s toughest tests yet.

Simeone has an enviable home record against English opposition with Atleti, with Arsenal the seventh different Premier League side to come to the Spanish capital for a Champions League knockout game and fail to win. It was a close call, though, with Mikel Arteta's side seeing an opportunity to claim a late victory taken away from them when VAR overturned the award of a penalty.

Atleti have experience progressing after a home draw against English opponents in a Champions League semi-final before, though, and Suarez was at the centre of it. The midfielder started both legs against Chelsea in 2014 when the Spanish side won 3-1 away after a goalless first leg and it’s a game which he can point to as an example of what the legendary boss is capable of.

“Simeone is incredible. That’s what I experienced against English teams when we played against them, for example when we played against Chelsea and won 3-1 in the Champions League” Suarez said at La Liga's Madrid office.

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“The good thing is he is a coach where he knows how to grow a defence and build brave teams. It’s about defending well but he knows how to make the most of the space left behind by the opposition.”

After that victory over Chelsea in 2014, Atleti went on to eliminate Leicester from the 2016/17 Champions League, Liverpool in 2019/20 and Manchester United in 2021/22. They also claimed a famous victory over Arsenal in the semi-finals of the 2017/18 Europa League but they’re up against a very different Gunners outfit this time around.

“Against Arsenal last time we saw what he can do, it will be a great match,” Suarez added. “I’m expecting a very close game and it’s going to be difficult.

“I’m [looking forward to] seeing how open it will be versus the rest of the matches and think it is 50-50 [who wins]. Arsenal are one of the best defensive teams in the Champions League and the masters of set pieces.”

Atleti had the luxury of resting all 11 starters from the first leg when they travelled to Valencia on Saturday. They still won at the Mestalla, with youngsters Iker Luque and Cubo both bagging debut goals to give the visitors momentum ahead of their trip to London.

Simeone's side have been able to benefit from La Liga's technology drive, which aims to democratise tech for all 42 teams across Spain's top two divisions. All sides have access to data on themselves and their domestic opponents, as well as being able to request information relating to matches played in La Liga stadiums in other competitions.

Whether this is enough for them to get past Arsenal in north London is another question. Arteta's team are unbeaten home and away in this season's Champions League, winning at home to Atleti and fellow semi-finalists Bayern Munich in the league phase, though the pressure of a semi-final is rather different.

"It’s nothing more than a football match, and whoever plays better will have a better chance of winning,” Simeone said in his pre-match press conference. “Within that, each team has our own strengths, and we’ll do our thing to try to make the most of our strengths, and I’m sure the Arsenal coach will try to maximise theirs.

“I’m going to try to tell the team to play like they did in the second half. Let’s see. If it’s that easy, it would be great. We have a lot of faith in what we’re doing. We’re convinced and confident about what we want to achieve in the match, and then, obviously, the result won’t depend solely on us.”

This season, UK fans can watch LALIGA live via Premier Sports, or on Disney+ for each Saturday 8pm kick off.