Thibaut Courtois believes that opponents are taking Atletico Madrid more seriously now after their start to the season.
The capital club are currently joint top of La Liga after an unbeatean start to the campaign and for Courtois, that has translated into greater respect from opponents.
“Atletico has always been a great team and many sides have a lot of respect for us, but they may now have more respect and be more afraid of us because we are winning games,” the goalkeeper told reporters today.
“Opponents change their game against us, we have to be patient and we have to push more to win games.”
However, for the Belgian, this is not translating into pressure on the players.
“We have no pressure to be second in the table. We have the same idea in principle – game by game. We are not looking at being level with Barcelona. We believe in every game, we want to win and there is no more pressure than before.
“We have to look at ourselves. The important thing for us is our match tomorrow and we have to stay focused on that.”
That game is a trip to Real Sociedad, who have three wins from three at Anoeta this term.
“We have to see a bit how they play. It is going to be a tough game because whenever you play away it is difficult. It is important to win to maintain our momentum.
“We know it will be a tough game, but we have the quality to win. We hope to win.”
