Diego Simeone highlighted the difference between Atletico Madrid's strikers and those at Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG, saying that effectiveness is the determining factor between the two when it comes to defending.
"At Atletico, or at the teams who are considered weaker than Madrid, PSG, Bayern and Barca, the attackers have to make more of an effort to have an impact.
"In other words, Neymar, Messi, Lewandowski or Ronaldo are clinical. In this case, they defend less and their defending is less important because there so clinical in their area. All the others are less effective and so need to work harder," said Simeone, in an interview with 'L'Equipe'.
The Argentinian coach then backed up his point: "A striker at Atleti plays in a different way to one at PSG, Barca or Real Madrid.
"Because from eight chances, the PSG or Barca striker will score seven times and the Atletico striker will score five or six. So, we have to work harder. The strikers that score seven goals from eight chances can take the luxury of defending less because they're more clinical," he added.
On a more personal note, Simeone claimed that if he were to return to his playing days he would still play in the middle: "Midfield, like I have done my whole life. Without a doubt. The middle of the pitch is the best place to play.
"It's the most important area for every team. The midfielder faces the problems from the defenders and the needs of the attackers at the same time."
The Atletico boss then justified his opinion: "It may well be that scoring is better than defending, of course. But taking into account by past as a player and the way I see the game as a coach, I definitely chose the midfield because it's where you encounter the most diverse situations and you also have the opportunity to score.
"If you play as a stiker, you only have to think about one situation, in theory," he concluded.