Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has hailed Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone for creating a strong foundation at the Vicente Calderon.
Atleti will be appearing in their second Champions League final in the last three years after overcoming Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the competition on Tuesday night and master tactician Simeone deservedly has received a lot of praise for the achievement.
Former United defender Ferdinand, who won Europe's premier club competition in 2008, has been left very impressed by Simeone and has praised the Argentine manager for creating a strong foundation at Atletico Madrid over the past few seasons.
"A manager has to create an environment where the players believe in his tactics," Ferdinand told BT Sport.
"They see that playing with this intensity and do it consistently and there has to be genuine belief. It is all down to Simeone. Him and his staff have created this foundation.
"It is a powerful thing - players are running their socks off. You only have to look at Antoine Griezmann for example. It's great to see. Some people want to see attacking, thrilling football which is played by Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but I'm equally turned on by this type of football too."
