‘Defeats won’t affect Atleti’

Diego Simeone has insisted that Atletico Madrid’s recent defeats ‘don’t change anything’ ahead of their encounter with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday.

Los Colchoneros have already lost twice in January, with both reverses coming against Barcelona, but the Coach remained unperturbed as he focused on how his squad were shaping up for the visit of their capital rivals.

“Each team have their own style. Rayo come [into the match] from a good run of form, so we’re obliged to play hard and take the match [to them],” he said at a Press conference.

“Rayo are courageous, play with a lot of speed and have a clear identity. Hopefully, we respond accordingly.

“We’ll go with the players who are in the best condition [on Saturday] monrning, but I won’t give away the line-up.

“The defeats don’t change anything. I can imagine [how Joao Miranda and Jose Maria Gimenez will perform together].

“Joao has done very well since coming back [from injury] and Gimenez has shown signs of improvement.

“They’ve never played together, so hopefully they do well on both an individual and collective level [on Saturday].

“Our expectations are to go game by game. We haven’t decided whether Raul Jimenez or [Angel] Correa will play.

“Cani will be in the squad, then we’ll decide whether to use him. He’s improving and has been with us for three weeks now. We can use his talents at any time.”

Tags Angel Correa Cani Diego Simeone Jose Maria Gimenez Miranda Raul Jimenez
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