Diego Simeone makes bizarre Manchester United claim ahead of Champions League clash

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has been full of praise for Manchester United ahead of their meeting on Wednesday.

Manchester United, despite beating a struggling Leeds this past weekend, have looked far from impressive under Ralf Rangnick and would even crash out of the FA Cup at the hands of Middlesbrough.

Despite this, when speaking about the Red Devils recently, Diego Simeone has claimed that Atletico are facing one of the best teams in the world:

“We’re facing one of the best teams in the world in the last 14 games, if I’m not mistaken,” Simeone claimed.

“They’ve just lost one. With the new manager, Ralf Rangnick, it’s given the team solidity, teamwork, commitment.

“We can see what Manchester United was always like. They’ve evolved since the new manager arrived, they’re already fourth in the league.

“It’s an intense, dynamic team, very brave, with very good forwards, very good footballers overall and who try to make a huge effort to try and unite the huge talents they have in 11 players.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game, as every Champions League game is. But we have a lot of anticipation to play in our stadium in front of our fans and we’re lucky to play the last 16 at home because we couldn’t play that, we couldn’t do that last year.”

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone says #MUFC are one of the best teams in the world right now and it’s difficult to find weaknesses in Ralf Rangnick’s side.

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 22, 2022

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Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United

Manchester United head into the Atletico Madrid clash on some fairly shaky form.

The Red Devils have recently been held to 1-1 draw by Burnley and Southampton.

Man United’s most recent outing would see them beat bitter rivals Leeds United. But even in that tie they conceded two goals and looked poor in midfield.

Will this Manchester United side, which appears to lack any true leaders and struggles when the pressure is on, be able to hold their own against a Diego Simeone side?

One thing working in Manchester United’s favour is the fairly patchy form of Atletico at present.

The Madrid-based outfit won La Liga last season, but have struggled to replicate that form this term.

Atletico are currently 5^th in the Spanish top-flight and are having a real hard time keeping clean sheets. They have let in 34 in 25 league games this term, which is the most of the top 11 sides currently in Liga.