Atletico Madrid Coach Diego Simeone has played down talk of a title race after his side’s victory over Valencia on Sunday evening.
Los Rojiblancos closed the gap on league leaders Barcelona to nine points, after the Catalans were held to a 1-1 draw at Espanyol earlier that day.
“We are still a long way from that, we are focused on growing as a team,” Simeone told reporters after the match.
“I will be leaving the stadium tonight thinking about the hard work of my players, how they went about their jobs and their commitment – as a Coach, that gives you a lot of satisfaction.”
The Atleti boss also spoke on defender Diego Godin losing teeth in a challenge with Valencia goalkeeper Neto, and an apparent hamstring injury to Stefan Savic.
“They will have to kill us for us to be awarded a penalty, if that was not one Godin,” the Coach continued.
“I am not sure on the diagnosis but the doctor will know more tomorrow, but it is not easy to make so many changes in defence but our reinforcements did very well.”
