INTERVIEW: Diego Godin ready

Andy West 09:46 14/04/2015
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  • Godin (l) has come to epitomise Atletico under Simeone.

    Tough, uncompromising and totally committed, Diego Godin can be perceived as the on-field representative of everything that his Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone stands for. And just under a year ago, Godin stood within seconds of rounding off a sensational season by becoming a Champions League trophy-winning hero.

    The battle-hardened Uruguayan centre-back had given Atletico a first-half lead against local rivals Real Madrid in the final, and with a few seconds of injury time remaining the scoreline still stood at 1-0. Godin had already scored the goal that won La Liga, heading home a title-clinching equaliser at Barcelona, but his dreams of securing more silverware in Lisbon were then ruined by Sergio Ramos’s 93rd minute leveller, forcing extra time.

    The rest is history, but now Atletico have a chance for redemption as they go head-to-head with Real once again. And Godin, as you would expect, is determined to take it.

    Q Most neutrals make Madrid big favourites, despite your results against them this season. Does it irritate you and your team-mates that you are still regarded as underdogs, despite everything you have achieved?
    A We know that in the league and in Europe Real Madrid and Barcelona will always be favourites, and that is fine with us. All we can do is carry on working hard, and concentrate on ourselves.

    What do you think of Madrid’s recent problems – what has happened to them since they won 22 consecutive games in the autumn?
    They are still in a very strong position. I don’t think it would be beneficial to think they are having problems. You just need to look at the goals Cristiano Ronaldo is scoring.

    Do your memories of last season’s final provide extra motivation for this tie?
    Last season hurt after coming so close, but it doesn’t play any part in this season. We want to win the Champions League, not for revenge but for success.

    In your last game against Madrid you beat them very convincingly 4-0. Surely that will give you confidence for these next meetings?
    Previous games will not play a part in the two games. When it gets to the knockout stages of Europe, we all know anything can happen.

    In that game, all four of your goals came from crosses. Will you try to exploit Madrid’s defensive vulnerability in wide positions again?
    The coach will have a plan for these games like he has a plan for every game. He will have more than one idea how we can exploit Madrid.

    What does it mean to Atletico that Diego Simeone has just signed a new five-year contract?
    It is very important, I don’t think any coach could have done what he has done here. He knows exactly how to get the best out of every single player at the club, then how to get us playing as a team. That is why we have been so successful.

    You’ve played under many different managers – what makes Simeone different?
    He works and he works. For every opposition there is different preparation. He works with us individually preparing for a game and then works with us as a team. You would not believe the work he puts into every single game. Our success has been no accident.

    What is he like from day-to-day – does he always have the same kind of intensity in training sessions and behind the scenes that we see on the sidelines during games?
    Passion, intensity, hard work, it is what we see from him every day.

    Simeone would say the secret to Atletico’s success has simply been hard work, but there must be more to it than that. How would you explain it?
    We have quality, but it is not easy to compete with Barcelona and Madrid. They have so many resources quality is not enough, but when you add the attitude, hard work, aggression, and mentality then you get the team we have today.

    Atletico’s style has been described as playing “with a knife between your teeth”. How difficult is it to strike the balance between passionate aggression and controlled focus?
    We are very controlled, I don’t think we are overly aggressive at all, that would not be fair to the quality we have. One of the team’s greatest assets is set pieces, at both ends of the pitch.

    How does that come about? Do you spend more time than other teams working on them?
    Like I say, nothing we do is by accident. We work hard at training at everything. We don’t stop working or trying to improve.

    You have personally scored a lot of goals, including some very important ones, from set pieces. How do you explain that? Desire, positioning, confidence, teammates creating space…? 

    Godin has developed a habit of scoring important goals for Ateltico.

    So much success from set pieces comes from practice. Maybe fans see a well-worked free-kick and think it looks good, but to get that there has been hours of work that nobody has seen on the training ground.

    But you haven’t scored since early January – does that bother you?
    Scoring goals is nice, but what matters are results.

    With Bayern, Barca and Madrid all left in the Champions League, can Atletico win it?
    We beat Barcelona and Chelsea over two games last season, we must have the belief we can do that again.

    What are your hopes for Atletico’s longer-term future – can the club stay among Europe’s elite despite the much bigger resources available at other clubs?
    It is not easy to compete with the best teams in Spain and in Europe, but we must keep on doing what we have been. We have real quality at the club, and with our ethic and team spirit I hope we can carry on competing.

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