player and believes the Argentine's introduction changed the first leg
of the Spanish Supercopa on Tuesday night.
Di Maria was left on the bench by Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti for the
second time in a row this term, but came on for Luka Modric with 12
minutes remaining and immediately caused havoc in the visitors'
defence.
The 26-year-old winger, who is unsettled following the summer signing
of James Rodriguez and may still leave the club this summer, was not
directly involved as the Colombian opened the scoring but gave life to
a previously sterile Madrid attack and the goal arrived just three
minutes after his introduction.
"The game changed with Di Maria," Simeone said afterwards. "It's
logical - he's the best player they have."
Asked if he really believes his compatriot to be Madrid's finest
footballer, the Atleti coach added: "He's the player most likely to
create openings in the opposition half."
Madrid's lead lasted just six minutes, however, as Raul Garcia
levelled from a corner late in the game.
"Thanks to the goal we have a 50 per cent chance in the home game on
Friday," Simeone said. "It's 50-50 because Madrid always score goals
and thinking about a 0-0 draw won't be good.
"We set up the game to play to our characteristics and the match was
more how we wanted it than how they wanted it."
Summer signing Mario Mandzukic missed a couple of decent chances for
Atleti, but Simeone was pleased with the former Bayern Munich man's
overall contribution.
"He did some great work for the team defensively," the Argentine said.
"We want Mandzukic and Raul [Jimenez] to block the counterattacks. The
team was compact, it worked fairly well."
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