Simeone: "It’s not just another match, it’s a direct match, different"

Atlético’s coach, when asked if Mandžukić will play as a starter, said that "we are evaluating who will start. Because we can play with Rault to the right and Koke on the inside and Gabi on the outside. Mandžukić - Torres, Raúl - Torres or Raúl - Mandžukić are possibilities. As for Mandžukić, he is very important for us. He’s a player who creates a lot of dangerous situations, be it by foul, supporting people who come forwards, or in long runs to assist. We consider him a critical player for our team."

The rival is Valencia, a direct rival. Simeone thinks that "it is a very competitive team and it has a huge amount of points compared with last year. That makes what we expected at the beginning of the season to be true, both Sevilla and Valencia are going to compete with us for that desired third or fourth place. Valencia is an important team, with players with a lot of hierarchy, they attack dangerously from the midfield and score. In addition, it comes from winning four consecutive games."

On the importance of this game against Valencia, he says that "it’s not just another match. Both for them and for us it’s a direct match because we're rivals we’re competing and we will compete for the third place. It's a different match. We’ll have to take the game to where we feel more comfortable and that will make the match make us feel what we want to feel."

To finish, he said that "our aim is to go play match-by-match, trying to win and do it well. The aim of the Club is, without a doubt, to be third or fourth."