Kieran Trippier has revealed the psychological tricks used by Diego Simeone to inspire his Atletico Madrid side to La Liga glory.
In the 2020-21 La Liga season, Atletico edged the league by two points over local rivals, Real Madrid, making it Simeone's second La Liga title in 11 years at the club as coach.
Newcastle's January signing Trippier has now outlined how the approach used by the Argentine manager helped the team get over the line.
What has Trippier said?
“After Christmas, we weren’t allowed to say ‘good morning’," Trippier told the True Geordie Podcast. "That’s what the manager said. We had to say 'champions' from Christmas.
“He set the stall for the players at Christmas. We weren’t allowed to say good morning, he was like 'we’re going to be champions', the physios, everybody.
"All the physios [were] coming in, every game from Christmas, all wearing Atletico Madrid shirts.
“There were banners put up in the dressing room….pictures of you when you were little, you know little things like that, it was incredible….it does make a difference."