Diego Simeone's and Atletico Madrid's preparations for the match against Manchester City have been revealed and it's pretty superstitious.
Diego Simeone's Superstitious Prep
According to El Chiringuito TV in Spain, Simeone wanted to emulate all the events leading into their win at Old Trafford last month, so his team took the exact same 11:30am flight on the Monday before the game. They took the same coach and stayed at the same hotel.
They then had training at the same hour as they did when preparing for Manchester United and Simeone had his press conference at the same time with Marcos Llorente taking part in it like he did ahead of the United match.
It's fair to say that's a bit obsessive, but it wasn't just Simeone who took part in the superstitions. When walking through the Etihad tunnel onto the pitch, many of the players didn't step on the Manchester City crest on the floor as a sign of respect towards the Citizens. You can see Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul taking part in this superstition.
Luis Suarez showed respect for the Man City crest before the game 👏
(via @Atleti) pic.twitter.com/GZ8dht2agy— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) April 5, 2022
Well not everyone took part in it, as Antoine Griezmann showed here.
Simeone's superstitious side is well-documented. The superstition didn't work out for Simeone and Atletico as they narrowly lost 1-0 at the Etihad after a Kevin de Bruyne goal deep in the second half gave City the win.
Atletico were as dogged as ever and regularly defended with 11 men behind the ball in the first half. They couldn't break City down often enough and when they did, they were caught offside. City's goal felt inevitable as Atletico couldn't hold them back for much longer.
However the tie is still open as City travel to the Wanda Metropolitano next Wednesday. As we all know Atletico are a hard team to break down and if they get a goal early at home, the tie will definitely liven up.
SEE ALSO: Guardiola Says Man City Need To 'Control Emotions' Against Atletico
