Koke has rubbished suggestions Atletico Madrid kick opponents ‘off the park’, insisting that his side’s intensity is continually mistaken for dirtiness.
Los Colchoneros have come under fire for imposing a perceived overly-physical style of play under Diego Simeone, but the midfielder claims his team are victims of a smear campaign ahead of the capital derby with Real on Saturday.
“Some very important players left [in the summer], but we have a very strong core of good players, who dream about winning titles, so we’ve maintained our levels,” he told Marca.
“[What happened against Barcelona] remained on the pitch. It’s football and we’re ready to win. Each team play the way they think’s best, but we don’t give more importance.
“We all make mistakes. [Arda Turan] knows what he did and it won’t happen again. Many people have made mistakes and nothing happens. He’s apologised and been forgiven.
“Aggression is when you’re on the pitch and play intensely. We don’t like people saying that we’re violent.
“Why can’t you play football with intensity? It makes us laugh. None of us are going to change and we’ll continue playing in the same manner.
“One key [to our success] has been our intensity, but we can also play football. We wouldn’t have won the League and reached Champions League final if we were violent and kicked teams off the park.
“We’re only focusing on finishing third and overcoming Valencia and Sevilla. From there, come what may. Clearly, we’d always want to win the League and everything else, but we must be realistic.
“We must work hard [against Real]. We must put good balls into the box and get goals. We also need to stick with [Diego] Godin and [Joao] Miranda, both of whom I understand very well.
“[Antoine] Griezmann has surprised us all with his goals. He’s a great asset and we appreciate him.
“We know how to defend and attack against Madrid. We worked hard during the week, but now we must transfer it onto the pitch. That’s the key.
“They’re a great team, who have been on a very good run, broke it and now we’re on one of our own. Hopefully, we can keep this intensity and play our game.
“A defeat isn’t goodbye [to the title]. We have many more matches, anything can happen, but it’d be a step backwards. We have to win to close the gap [on them].
“[Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez and Marcelo] are great players, but Madrid have a large squad and great players. We don’t look at who's playing, we’ll go for them [regardless].”
