Atletico Madrid Coach Diego Simeone still won’t commit to making his side favourites for the title this season despite going three points clear yesterday.
Getafe were beaten 2-0 through goals from Diego Godin and Diego Costa, and Marca reports that at his post-match Press conference, Simeone continued to insist the next game, against Elche on Friday, was all he was thinking of.
Simeone did however change his mantra from ‘game by game’ to ‘final by final.’
“We have a final next Friday. The other thing I can comment on [the title] is fine, of course, it’s normal, but we have a final on Friday and we should focus on that,” Simeone said.
“It’s changed from game by game for Atletico. Now it’s final by final.
“We did a great job in a tough game. It took a lot of effort and ambition by the players to get a significant result and this leads us to where we wanted to be for the last five games.
“There are five finals remaining. We have a lot of respect for the teams behind us in the League, and with great humility, we know there are five finals.
“Now we focus on Elche, the closest final we have. There’s no other thought but to prepare, rest, recover well and the players will face a final with Elche, which will be important the final.”
Simeone added that the weekend’s results hadn’t changed much for his side, even though Barcelona were beaten and are now four points adrift of Atletico.
“I always said we depend on ourselves and I still maintain that the team depends on ambition, hard work, effort, humility, especially humility, the humility to go through this moment,” Simeone continued.
El Cholo also confirmed Costa hadn’t suffered a serious injury when colliding with the post after sliding in to score the game’s second goal.
“Costa is well, happy. He used his left leg to push the ball to goal and put in a great effort,” Simeone said.
He also thanked the supporters for their contribution after Atletico took a healthy away following to Getafe only days after a memorable Champions League victory over Barca.
“After the effort the other day in the Champions League, today we love how the fans we brought here proved invaluable. We’ve heard from our people in these games,” Simeone went on.
“Imagine on Friday a full stadium, ready to play the first final of five remaining.
“This wasn’t a simple game. We always have to sacrifice here. But the attitude of the team was the same as the other day in the Champions League.
“That’s healthy, comforting and very good. Our fans are alive, they speak, they have a life and the team feels the way they move.”
