Diego Simeone insists that it is still ‘too early’ to know whether Diego Costa will be out of Saturday’s Champions League final.
Atletico Madrid face their bitter city rivals Real in the European Cup at the weekend, but the Argentine tactician has claimed that, despite news Costa has a hamstring tear, it is still not clear if the goalscorer will be available in Lisbon.
“This is only the start of the week and there are still a few days to go until the final,” he told a Press conference.
“e’re not going to get ahead of ourselves and say anything – I think it’s far too early to do something like that ahead of such an important game.
“Having said that, we need all of our players in the best conditions possible.
“We’re only concerned about ourselves. We will wait and see how Diego and Arda progress – we’ll assess them again at the end of the week and consider what alternatives are open to us if they fail to recover.
“At the same time, we’ll be waiting to see how Madrid’s players recover,”
The League-winning Coach then claimed that his side have a ’50 per cent’ chance of lifting the trophy at Estadio de Luz.
“Percentagewise, we have a 50 per cent chance. Individually, Real Madrid have better players. We have the motivation while they have a strong desire to win their tenth trophy.
“That’s not to say that we don’t have the same desire. How the match pans out in midfield could be the determining factor.
“The only motivation they need is pulling on this club’s shirt. Playing for Atlético de Madrid is motivation in itself – whoever the team we face might be.
“Motivation is internal and if it isn’t, then it is very difficult to gain results. Being in a final is motivating for us.
“We need to take a hard look at ourselves and prepare well – we need to distance ourselves from what thoughts might be going through our minds.”
Simeone concluded by revealing what he told his players during half-time in the League decider against Barcelona.
“I just told them that they were doing well, that they were playing better than Barça and that if we could grab a goal, that the game would end level at 1-1.
“It was one of our best starts to any game and later, we took the game to where we wanted.”
