Mikel Arteta has praised the work of Diego Simeone during his 14 years at Atletico Madrid and believes we will have to be at our best to take all three points in the Champions League.
We've won two games so far in the league phase, downing against Athletic Club and Olympiacos, as we prepare to face the three-time Champions League runners-up at Emirates Stadium.
Mikel was quick to highlight the man who will be in the opposite technical area when face off at N5 and his efforts on winning eight major trophies in his tenure.
He said: "I think what he's done since he got to Atletico has been outstanding, not only what he has achieved but the way he's done it.
"I think the identity that he has created to the club, to the team, the spirit, I think they are very simple and clear to identify and that's because the manager is very much them. And that's extremely difficult to achieve for a short period of time and to do it for 14 years, I think he's been there now, he's done something incredible so yeah, a pleasure to meet him."
Atletico sit fourth in La Liga and have three points from their opening two matches in the Champions League and ahead our contest, Mikel assessed why the Madrid side will be such a tricky opponent.
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"First of all, the willingness to win," he said. "You can sense that in every single ball, in every single yard, the way they play, so it's about how they compete and then after how they play.
"I think there are two very different things, and in order to have to analyse what they are, the level of organisation is really high, the level of discipline is really high and then they have acquired a lot of talent throughout the years that are very specific for the needs and the way they want to play and they are very, very good at exploiting those opportunities.
"They have evolved as well as a team from where they were probably a year ago to now, and how they can change in relation to the context of the match, which is something very specific for this team.
"In order to prepare in the best way, you want to give [the players] everything, but be able to simplify the information and make it as concrete and as clear as possible for us being in the best position to implement what we want to do tomorrow."
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