Diego Simone praises son Giuliano’s form for Atletico
Giuliano Simeone assisted Julian Alvarez’s opener as Atletico Madrid beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1, earning praise from his father, Diego.
Diego Simeone revealed that his son, Giuliano, is “more confident” and “self-assured” as the forward continued his impressive form for Atletico Madrid.
The LaLiga outfit beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1 in the Champions League, with Giuliano Simeone assisting Julian Alvarez’s opener before Conor Gallagher and Marcos Llorente made sure of all three points.
The 22-year-old forward has now scored or assisted in four of his last five games for Atleti, with his side winning in all four of those matches, too.
It was a much-needed win for Atleti, who are now on six points from their opening four Champions League games.
Diego Simeone believes Giuliano is improving as he grows older, and insisted he is not being weighed down by the family name.
“He’s much more confident, more self-assured,” Simeone told the media regarding his son. “He’s young, he’s learning, he wants more, he definitely wants more.
“To do that, he needs to work hard, be humble and continue in the same vein. For us, when he’s on form, he’s very important.
“He’s very clear about it: he is Giuliano. He’s said it a thousand times, he wants nothing more than to be Giuliano.
“To be even better, he needs what I already mentioned: hard work, humility and continuity, not changing anything he brings to the team.”
Alvarez now has 12 goal involvements in his last 11 Champions League appearances (nine goals, three assists), as many as in his first 19.
He has also been directly involved in 16 goals in the 11 home matches he has started in the competition for both Manchester City and Atleti (11 goals, five assists).
“A great goal,” said Simeone when asked about Alvarez’s opener.
“Giuliano took advantage of his power and speed in the one-on-one, it was decisive and Julián scored a great goal. A shot from an important player.
“We wanted to finish the game trying to attack, they never changed their plan, they did bring on more tall players to try to create danger from set pieces.
“We had a chance to counter, as happened with Llorente (for the third goal), and it was a very tough match.”
