Giovanni Simeone was feeling positive ahead of Napoli’s Champions League clash with Rangers tomorrow, although he noted the team will ‘have to be careful’.
The Partenopei have already booked their spot in the Round of 16 of the competition, having started the season in electric fashion. Napoli still remain undefeated after 15 matches across Serie A and the Champions League, looking to be one of the most exciting teams in Europe this season.
Speaking in a press conference, Simeone first discussed Napoli’s desire to confirm their top spot in their Champions League group.
“We want to score as many points as possible, it’s important to show in every game, to confirm what we are doing. We have to continue like this, for me obviously playing is important but the important thing is to be ready, I have the experience to be ready and do my best.”
He touched on how hard it is to watch Napoli fly to wins whilst he’s often left on the sidelines.
“The whole team is doing well, putting us in front of goal. I always prepare with great strength, with my meditation, visualisation, I always write down all the matches, I have my own little booklet where I write down matches, so I concentrate, I prepare them like that.
“Obviously when I’m not playing I enjoy this team, the important thing is to be ready, either as a starter or playing five or 10 minutes, from day one I’ve said I’ll give it my all.”
The Argentinian striker reflected on the Partenopei’s first clash with Rangers this season, a 3-0 win last month.
“Yes, it was difficult, then we missed the penalty, they always tried to be aggressive on our possession.
“I don’t know if it was the most difficult but it was one of the most complicated matches because of their aggressiveness, of course we will have to be careful with this game and we know very well that they are a difficult team to face and we will prepare as much as possible.”
Simeone discussed his first few months in Naples and his happiness at the club.
“I’m happy, from the first day here, or rather from the moment we spoke, I received so many messages and I understood that being from Napoli was a unique thing, then here I understood the passion they have and especially for an Argentine, it shows that they live for this.
“I feel part of this passion, so the affection is mutual, beyond football I feel great, when there is sun and sea one is always well and I am a man of the sea, when I open the windows of my house and see that landscape I feel good. One must always seek peace within the chaos of traffic.”
He gave his thoughts on Luciano Spalletti’s tactics in the Campania capital.
“When there is a chance to play you always express your best, my strength is attacking the depth or creating spaces to go in goal or for my teammates.
“Everyone has their own strength and the squad knows how each striker plays, the coach knows very well who has to play against a team and he is very good at this, everyone is available when he chooses us.”
The 27-year-old commented on his desire to join the Argentina squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
“Yes, I am happy for this call-up, it is special, it confirms what I have always believed and now that I am in the 40 I will prove to Scaloni that I am ready to be there, I would love to give a hand to the good squad of the national team.”
He spoke about the possibility of facing his father Diego’s Atletico Madrid.
“It would be very nice to take on a strong team, the truth is that there is a lot missing, Atletico have to do very well to go through and we also have to focus on tomorrow.
“These are things you can never know, I focus on the present, on the minutes I will have, then later we will be ready to give our best.”
Finally, Simeone reacted to the suggestion that Napoli didn’t deserve to win the recent clash with Roma.
“Napoli are strong because we believe in what we do, we have variety from the bench and those who come in always make a difference, then what others say…
“Results matter, sometimes they go on points but only what we believe counts, not debates or those who like to talk, we prove things on the pitch.”