Quique Sánchez Flores praised the job done by all of his players and considered the victory over Osasuna to be of vital importance. “We played a very serious match against an opponent that is tough to beat and they kick the ball around a lot until you take the lead on them. Obviously the players up front can make the difference against these types of squads. The entire team did a great job,” he stated.

The manager also explained the changes made in the line-up, saying that “I test things out in training, not in official games. The only thing that I’m trying to do is send out the players that are in the best form. Mario is in good form, as is Assunçao, but you have to choose. I changed Antonio for Filipe, as he had a yellow card, and because Juanfran, who’s very dangerous, was on his wing. I left Domínguez on the bench because he’s been in a tough situation with his ankle.”

The Atlético de Madrid head coach continued to speak about his team and asserted that “Mario is playing at a very high level. When we talked about the depth of the squad in summer, we were referring to Mario, Fran, Diego Costa, Godín, Filipe… They’re players that will be useful to us over the course of the championship.

“The difference of Forlán with other weeks was the time frame. You have to respect those time frames. Each week that goes by he feels better. Besides, the goals have come and that will have an influence over his recovery. He’s feeling better and better, and we’re clearly more dangerous when Kun and Forlán are in shape. That’s the way it’s been the past few years,” Quique Sánchez Flores concluded.