Diego Simeone believes opening day opponents Valencia share ‘lots of similarities’ with his Atletico Madrid team.
The two go head-to-head in a mouth-watering clash at the Mestalla on Monday evening, with both teams hopeful of upsetting Barcelona and Real Madrid’s dominance in La Liga.
“Valencia are one of the league’s most important teams who have not stopped growing since Marcelino joined,” Simeone told reporters, as cited by Diario AS.
“There are lots of similarities between the way they play and us, in how the teams are set up and which type of player they want to sign.
“It will be a very tough assignment for us in front of a strong atmosphere and lots of home fans who will be excited for the first game of the season.
“The transfer market still being open? I would rather it closed before the season began, like in Italy and England.
“These other nations have shown initiative to shorten the window and that gives everyone a better understanding as there are still some footballers who may have in their head that they want to leave.”
