Diego Simeone is expecting a hard game when Atletico Madrid host Malaga and believes there’s no room to slip up.
Javi Gracia’s in-form Malaga travel to Vicente Calderon on Saturday with Atletico having had a large number of their squad away on international duty.
Rather than fret over the fitness of his players while they’re with their countries, Simeone welcomed their involvement as a sign of how Atletico have progressed.
“It’s very good. Three years ago there were four players away and now there are 16,” he said, AS reports.
“There are more positive things than negative things. The balance is good and that’s important. For those who have been away, they know it’s important.
“We’re getting used to this and we hope it stays this way. It means the players are doing well. We will always give them the chance to go with their national team.”
Raul Jimenez was one of the Atletico players to make an impression with their countries, netting twice for Mexico, and Cholo confirmed he was aware of how the striker did.
“I never stopped trusting him. I saw his two goals and told him he did well. Who doesn’t play is my decision and he has all the conditions to play, but he’s not playing because I’ve chosen he doesn’t. But he has everything to play,” Simeone said of the forward.
“I always look for the group. I read the papers and Manchester United, Arsenal and Inter want Alessio Cerci.
“We’ve already sold Martin Demichelis without him playing and now Cerci has three teams following him. Atletico must be a great team.”
On Malaga specifically, Simeone commended the visitors for their recent form and good results.
“They’ve been doing well for a while now. They stopped Barcelona and have a good attack and technical quality as well as experience in midfield,” he noted.
“They have confidence and from the middle of the pitch they play well. We’ll see how they do without Nordin Amrabat. We need to be aware of how he is replaced.
“We never have a margin of error. This is another final.”