Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has dismissed the suggestion that his team is having a poor season and believes that the Rojiblancos are enjoying a great campaign.
Diego Simeonea s Atletico Madrid surprised everybody by beating Real Madrid and FCBarcelona to the La Liga title last year but currently, after Valenciaa s win over Bilbao on Friday, they are languishing in the fourth spot. Question marks are now being raised about the ability of Atletico Madrida s new looking squad but Simeone believes that his players are performing according to the expectations.
“There are still a lot of games left,” Diego Simeone told reporters. “Wea ll have to wait to see how the league finishes and then wea ll review what happened.
“You all like to compare this team to last yeara s, something I dona t consider at all.
“I think wea ve got six points fewer than a year ago. I think wea re having a great season.”
Atletico Madrid travel to Barcelona to play against Espanyol tonight and Simeone has urged his players to get back to the winning ways.
a Wea re hoping to get back to winning ways, which is important,” Simeone added.
“Hopefully, against Espanyol we can get back that consistency we had in the first half against Valencia, which is our way of playing and what makes us a difficult team to play against.”
Simeone was also full of praise for Espanyol. He said: “Espanyol are a really competitive team, with a lot of similarities to us. They play their football on the wings, aerial play and players that play with speed and intensity.”
Atletico Madrid have just won one game of their last four matches and striker Antoine Griezmann has asked his team mates to step up and win against Espanyol tonight.
“The keys to the match against Espanyol will be, be strong at the back and at the front.
“And when we have the ball, try to combine to have fun, because in the end, [it] is a game and when we enjoy ourselves, we play very well.”
Griezmann missed last match due to suspension but he is back now and said that he is happy to be back.
“After not being able to play last week due to suspension, I’m eager and excited to try help the team,” Griezmann told Atletico Madrid’s official website.