Simeone: Casemiro is more important than Bale and Cristiano
Diego Simeone says Casemiro is more important to Real Madrid than Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The Argentine coach was asked if that was the case and he replied: "For the balance of Real Madrid, yes, certainly. It's going to be a very tense, balanced game. The presence of Casemiro gives them the possibility of regrouping better if they lose the ball.
"Casemiro makes Madrid very dangerous on the counter-attack. If you give them space they're very dangerous."
Simeone added that Atletico is consistently changing but maintaining the same philosophy.
"The club, the players, it's reinventing itself continuously," he explained. "And that's what's most valuable in this club. Everyone works with the idea of continuing to grow, you try and try again and if you continue you eventually get what you want.
"To play a final is fantastic, to win it... there is nothing better. It makes you continue to prepare yourself for these moments. Not change the structure or the identity, but repeat, repeat, repeat and you can achieve things.
"I think the continuity in the successes the club has had positions you a lot better as one of the best clubs in Europe. Few teams are better - perhaps Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid - but there's an idea about how we work and that's what allows us to be in this privileged position. The only way of maintaining that is by winning."
