Raul Garcia "The squad is more competitive than last year"

Raul Garcia will be this year's third captain of the red and whites. Glad to have more strength in the dressing room, the player spoke of the enthusiasm and motivation of the squad to improve on last season. "The team wants to keep improving. The goal always has to be the same, the good that has been done is to improve on last year. The preseason workouts have been different and have gone well for the best possible start."

The midfielder said Sevilla is a nice place to start the league. "We really want to start competing. The league opener is in Seville where we always like to play because it is a difficult place to go. We really want to have a winning start," he said.

Despite the departure of players like Negredo and Navas for Sevilla, the Andalusian, as recognized by Raul, have been reinforced by very competitive young players that make things very difficult on Sunday. "Sevilla is always known to sell big players and replace them with competitive players. It will be a tough game."

Competition within the squad will make us better as a team

 Asked about Torres Óliver progression, Garcia praised the work of his teammate and made clear that in the near future he will be bringing joy to the crowd in the Calderon. "Oliver is a player who is maturing, just a few months ago he was playing with people his age. You need time to mature and continue the line of work and progression he is on. I’m sure he will bring a lot of joy in the future because he has great conditions to succeed at Atletico" he certified.

For this year, Atletico Madrid must continue the same line of work as last year. Raul Garcia reiterated that the squad is more competitive than last year, which as he thinks, will only help the team improve. "The coach told me last year. I had been with him before and he told me what he wanted from me. This year we will continue the same line as last year. He knows he has a more competitive squad than last year and that's good because thanks to this competition, the team will improve," he concluded.