Diego Simeone believes Valencia “will be there fighting” at the end of the season after Atletico Madrid’s stalemate at Mestalla.
Atleti drew their second of three games on Saturday, leaving them already four points behind Barcelona at the top of La Liga, but Simeone was full of praise for Valencia’s approach and felt his side “only lacked a goal.”
“It was a good match between two teams that played in a similar way,” the Coach said after the game.
“We had chances to win and played well but didn’t get the goal, which was the most important thing.
“We tried different things and did damage in spells. We played with good sensations.
“In the second, we tried to play more centrally to see if we could force them into making mistakes, but we didn’t finish off the counterattacks that we had.
“Carrasco? He could’ve been decisive, but he didn’t have the game that we needed. With Gaitan, we looked to freshen things up and move between the lines.
“Thomas? He’s growing, he has desire, enthusiasm and ambition. I hope he keeps growing, without any problems. He’s young and working hard.
“Marcelino? His work can already be seen at Valencia. They’ll grow and they’re one of the teams that’ll be up there fighting.
“Once a team are organised, the goals will come and they have players who can decide games.
“What happened here is behind us. You live for the present, and Valencia were compact and daring.
“Valencia will be fighting near the top in a few months. Our worst moment until now remains our first half at Girona.
“We played very well against Valencia and only lacked a goal.”
