The Uruguayan has been linked with a move to Liverpool this summer.
Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez spoke in a video on the club’s official website about the motivation behind his side beating Liverpool in the Champions League.
Diego Simeone’s men shocked the world when they came to Anfield last month and knocked the defending European champions out of the competition.
Since the defeat, Gimenez has been linked with a move to Jurgen Klopp’s side (Passione Inter) but that hasn’t stopped him from talking about the motivation that helped him and his side beat Liverpool.
He said: “A lot of people thought we would be knocked out. But we always believed and listened to the people who did believe in us. We fought with the strength of all those people.“
“I’ve got to say that I also thought we would qualify, especially with how we played at home. People thought we wouldn’t qualify, and I think that’s one of the things that motivated us the most.”
As Gimenez said, not many people expected Liverpool to lose the way they did in their own backyard. The Reds were having an incredible season and were one of the favourites to win the Champions League.
Atleti showed incredible organisation, heart and defensive quality to knock Klopp’s men out but could the same quality tempt the Liverpool boss to lure Gimenez to Anfield this summer?
That would be an incredible signing for the Reds but it will not be cheap. AS claimed recently that the Uruguayan has a release clause of about £111 million, which would make him the world’s most expensive defender should Liverpool pay that.
A centre-half partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Gimenez will arguably the best in world football at the moment but the likelihood of that move happening is slim at best.
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