"Utmost respect", "he's better than me"...: Ancelotti and Simeone exchange flatteries before the Euroderby

The second round of the 'Euroderby' between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid takes place tonight at the Metropolitano, with no clear favourites. Real Madrid has one goal edge, but so did Liverpool yesterday, and they even played at home: Atlético improves and gets much more aggressive at the Metropolitano and Real Madrid is uneven lately, with concerns about Mbappé and Vinícius performance and even professional relationship.

It will be a heated match, as usual, one that divides the city, between two powerful teams that would have deserved to reach further in the competition - as it was the case with Liverpool and PSG. Before the ball rolls, however, there's total sportsmanship between veteran managers Simeone - who has been at the helm of the team an unusually long time (since December 2011) and Ancelotti, who has won more titles than any other manager at the club.

Sportsmanship between Simeone and Ancelotti before the critical "Euroderby"

"I have the utmost respect for him as a coach, he's fantastic and we have similar footballing ideas", said Ancelotti in the press conference, who described him as a top football manager. He also reassured that Mbappé and Vinícius get along very well. "I have not seen anything of what you see", he said about rumours of a bad relationship.

Precisely, reporters asked Simeone whether he also believes that both are similar, and he thinks that it could be attributed to their experiences in Italy. "I spent a lot of time in Italy, he was born in Italy, and I think the reasons are more fundamental and based on experience in Italian football as a player and as a coach."

"Yes, there may be some similarities, but it's clear that Ancelotti is much better than me" he concluded.

The Argentinian also believes that their team has a more collective approach vs. the individuality of Real Madrid, which usually relay on the quality of their top players to set the difference.