Diego Simeone demands Atleti response

Atleti lost their first game of the season last weekend as they went down 1-0 to Sevilla, who leapfrogged them into second place, prompting Simeone to demand a rapid response from his side against Malaga.

“Saul will partner Gabi in the middle,” Simeone said at a press conference.

“We hope to resolve the game in the best way. The position that Saul will play is the one he’s always played. He poses even more danger than Koke because he runs more and scores more goals... We’ll see what happens.

“Whenever you lose, it’s important to bounce back quickly. The guys have worked well and now we’ll test ourselves against Malaga, who come into the game at a time of growth, with good results, defend well away from home and can take advantage of spaces.

“Rumours about the Premier League? I’m thinking about Malaga, [not] what the Premier League is like or what might happen in the future ... What I care about is Malaga. Most of the dressing room has been together for five years. It’s logical that there’s an affection that goes beyond the Coach and players.

“The players value my work and I value theirs. We feel comfortable together, they’re clear about what I like and what I don’t. I’m satisfied with the teams start to the season. It’s been very good. We’ve had three games in which our strikers haven’t scored, but they come in moments, spurts. The goals will return in accordance with our work and I’m sure they’ll reappear.

“We work to improve every day. We didn’t think about how good or bad we did [against Sevilla], we think and look to grow as a team so we can resolve the next game. Diego has had several very good seasons, he’s one of our leaders. Hopefully he can maintain his focus and intensity.

“Josema [Gimenez] is extraordinary, we’re counting on him a lot and now he’s back from injury and feeling better. We have four very important centre-backs and need all four of them. Our objective is to finish with more points than we did last season. If we do then I’ll say that we did better than last season.”

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