Speaking to the Spanish media, Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke has compared his side’s route to the Champions League final to that of their rivals Real Madrid.
The two capital city clubs go head to head in Milan on May 28 in their second UCL final together in the space of three years.
The last time they met—in 2014—Atleti opened the scoring through Diego Godin, but a late Sergio Ramos equaliser took the tie to extra time, where Los Merengues ultimately pulled out the win.
This season, however, Atletico may well be confident in their chances of success, having already dumped out Barcelona and Bayern Munich en route to the showpiece occasion at the San Siro.
Speaking to AS, Koke has compared the two sides’ pathways to the final, and implied that Atleti have had it easier.
“They have not had the easiest route,” Koke began, noting that Real have faced teams of ‘great quality’.
“It’s true that we have faced teams that have been champions of their leagues and Madrid haven’t faced champions.”
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Koke started the last UCL final between the two sides two years ago and, as a youth product of the Rojiblancos, will surely have felt the defeat harder than most.
With the Spain international featuring in early February, as Diego Simeone’s Atleti beat Zinedine Zidane’s Real 4-2, he has reason to believe that the capital club can get one over on their bitter enemies this time around.
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