Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone has praised Thomas Tuchel’s impact at Chelsea ahead of both teams’ clash in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 encounters.

Atletico Madrid faces Chelsea in Bucharest Romania instead of the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid due to travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thomas Tuchel was appointed as the manager of Chelsea in January, replacing Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge.

Since his arrival last month, the Blues have been unbeaten winning five and drawing two of his first seven matches in charge

“We just have to make a good game against a very big team, with a new coach, a very big coach and an important one that did his job everywhere he went to, Chelsea is a very strong club, they develop every time and every year. They brought Tuchel but it is a really big team and since he came he put a good change in the numbers.” Simeone said.

Meanwhile, Diego Simeone is placing his trust in former Barcelona forward Luis Suarez who has been instrumental in the La Liga this season.

Suarez joined Atletico from Barcelona in the summer and he has scored 16 goals to help the capital club to the top of the La Liga.

Simeone explained the importance of the Uruguayan forward stating that he is needed in all competitions because of his energy.

Atletico Madrid are situated on the top of the La Liga table with 55 points from 23 games but they are just three points away from Real Madrid who sits second.

Meanwhile, Sevilla moved into third above Barcelona with a 2-0 win over Osasuna on Monday evening.

Diego Carlos and Luuk De Jong scored in the first half and second half respectively to give Sevilla the win.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu