Robin Le Normand spoke to ‘Marca’ before Atletico’s Champions League opener against RB Leipzig. On the hotly debated new format he said that there are no excuses and that it’s about winning. “We’ll have to get used to it…”, he said.
Centre-back Robin Le Normand was one of Atletico’s summer signings, so this will be his first Champions League with the Madrid team. The defender is confident that his team will have a great European competition.
The group stage is history, but the player considers that this should be the least of it. “It’s a new format for everyone. There are no excuses. Football is about winning and that’s where we’re going. It’s something new and we’ll have to get used to it,” he told ‘Marca’.
“We still don’t know exactly all the details, but the important thing is to get the three points. There are very good teams… We have to have the confidence that we’re going to do well,” he continued.
Le Normand played in last year’s Champions League with Real Sociedad and admitted that this will be “a very important change”. On Atletico’s chances of winning the Champions League, he said: “It’s a world away from saying we’re going to win and that, but we’re a big team.
“We are all excited about winning the Champions League, it’s something incredible. We’re still a long way off, but we’re not going to be short of enthusiasm, desire and hard work,” he added.
He admitted that he would love to win a trophy with Atletico, but Simeone’s “match by match” style invites him to be calm because the season has only just begun. “It would be something magnificent and another incredible moment in my career. Something very important, but there is still a long way to go. It’s summer, you have to keep a cool head, there’s no lack of enthusiasm but there’s still a long way to go. Calmness”, he closed.
