Diego Simeone is certainly not an elephant, but he has a memory of a one. Atletico Madrid coach waited 6 years to be able to get ‘revenge’ to Barcelona coach Xavi for something he said – in 2016. Ahead of a big match between Atletico and Barcelona in La Liga, the Argentinian tactician reflected on some of Xavi’s earlier comments about his style of play and replied to his colleague in style. Today’s game is much more important than the first one during the season, when Atletico won comfortably against Ronald Coeman’s Barcelona. It’s also more important than the one from last season, when the Catalonians had a real chance to win the title and only drew 0-0 with Atletico, but in reality, they lost the championship battle the week before after the loss to Granada. But this time, it will be a battle for the fourth place and the Champions League spot and Xavi already branded this derby as the ‘six pointer’.Things are getting heated before Barcelona vs. Atletico 🍿 pic.twitter.com/nh2YnxOViQ— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 5, 2022 For Simeone, it will be a great opportunity for his colleague to show his qualities against him and his tactics. In 2016, Xavi said that ‘big teams should not play like Atletico Madrid’, and finally Simeone had a chance to address that, and give some cheeky explanation, claiming that Xavi played only in one system all his life, and hasn’t experienced anything else.“Years ago Xavi said that Atletico’s style was not for big teams. Now he will have the opportunity to display what he wants and imagines, since he has new signings and eight players available for his front-three. When a person has only lived with one situation in his life, he doesn’t understand other situations… What he thinks is very respectable because he had the opportunity to have lived huge successes at Barcelona” said El Cholo via SPORT.Ousmane Dembélé is the only player in the current squad who has scored against Atlético Madrid in almost a decade. [md] pic.twitter.com/f90jbQgAOU— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 6, 2022 As for Xavi, he emphasized the importance of this match as Barca could overtake current La Liga campions with a win.“It’s another final. We play against the champions, with a very good coach, a chameleon-like and complicated team. It’s a six-pointer because we would overtake Atletico” said Xavi.But the majority of questions were still on the topic of new signings, as well as Dembele situation. Despite their current financial plight, the Catalonians manage to secure the signings of Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Dani Alves. On top of that, contract rebel Ousmane Dembele was not offloaded and he will stay in the club until June, when he will leave as a free agent. Xavi had to explain the situation, since the club were reluctant not to play him until the end of the season.“We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. Dembele can help us. He has been a good professional. It is a club decision. Everything possible was done to find a way out for Dembele. I understand everyone’s positions but we have to close ranks and think what’s best for the club. We think he can help us. I will use Dembele when I think it is convenient. If Dembele plays I hope he has the support of the fans. But I understand the anger” said Xavi.Auba signs, but Dembele refuses mutual terminationNew signings Adama and Aubameyang have both been included in the squad, while the game also sees the return from suspension of Gavi, while Ousmane Dembele is also back in the squad, unlike Memphis, Ansu Fati, Clement Lenglet, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti and Eric Garcia, who are all injured or not ready.La Liga – January transfer window recap: Chaotic Barca and intimidating Real MadridXavi’s playing record against Atletico was 14 wins, 9 draws and 9 defeats. His last ever game against them was a 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon that secured the Liga title in 2015. Barca have not lost at home to Atletico in La Liga since 2006, when Frank Rijkaard was in charge, fifteen seasons ago. Atletico have not won any of their last four away fixtures in La Liga.LA LIGA – ROUND 23FridayGetafe – Levante 3-0 (2-0)/Unal 1, 29, Alena 90+5/SaturdayElche – Deportivo Alaves 3-1 (0-1)/Milla 46, 58, Fidel 86 – Joselu 18/Real Mallorca – Cadiz 2-1 (1-1)/Sevilla 20 pen, Muriqi 66 pen – Alcaraz 8/Celta Vigo – Rayo Vallecano/Mendez 12/Osasuna – Sevilla 0-0Sunday16:00 Valencia – Real Sociedad18:15 Barcelona – Atletico Madrid20:30 Real Betis – Villarreal23:00 Real Madrid – GranadaMonday:23:00 Athletic Club – Espanyol***odds are subject to change
