Atletico Madrid’s Mario Mandzukic stretches during a training session at the club’s ground in Madrid yesterday ahead of their Champions League clash against Malmo. (Reuters)
Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan does not care what people think about their football so long as they are successful, he said ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash at home to Malmo.
The La Liga winners and last season’s Champions League finalists have a game plan based around a solid defence and hard work which Turan believes is the best way with the resources available to them.
“I’m sorry that people may be critical. Our football may not be pretty but it’s winning football,” Turan told FIFA.com.
“Sometimes the teams playing the nicest football don’t win games or titles. Certainly there are times when we would like to have more of the ball but we don’t have Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in our side so we have to be a real team and work hard.
“We need to defend more than Madrid or Barcelona but that style has made us champions. I respect everyone’s right to an opinion and I too enjoy the football played by the likes of Barca or Bayern Munich. However, I prefer our own style.”
Atletico have found it difficult to maintain their consistency this season but go into the match after a 2-0 victory over Espanyol at the weekend.
They have lost important players from the last campaign like Diego Costa and Filipe Luis while the new faces are still finding their feet.
Diego Simeone’s side conceded three goals in defeat away to Olympiakos in their opening group A game although they followed that up with a 1-0 victory at home to Juventus.
Turan said that it was the arrival of Simeone that gave the players the belief that they could beat the biggest clubs.
“When Simeone came in the first thing he said to us was: ‘If we stop the opposition from scoring and get a goal ourselves then we’ll win.’ The key was not to concede goals,” he explained.
“Our recipe is work and more work. Each game is like a final and we have to focus on every opponent. Barca and Madrid have more money and more quality than us but with our mentality of taking it game by game and playing for each other we can compete with them.”
Atletico face a Malmo side that lost away to Juventus but then beat Olympiakos. “We will need to take care against Malmo and we have a lot of respect for them,” said Turan.
“At home they play very well and, remember, they went in 0-0 at halftime away to Juve. This is the Champions League and if we’re careless or adopt an attitude that we are the big team then we will be eliminated very quickly.”
Atletico midfielder Tiago is set to miss the match at the Vicente Calderon through injury which could mean a chance for unsettled Mario Suarez to prove his value to the team. Suarez came on for Tiago against Espanyol and scored the second goal.
“I have to make the most of the minutes that I get,” he told reporters. “Now we are focused on Malmo and picking up the points which is the only thing I am thinking about.”
