The Atletico coach highlighted the work of Javier Aguirre ahead of Espanyol, commenting that "they have grown a lot since his arrival as coach. He has managed to take a character that has allowed the team to get out of a sticky situation. From there the team has grown with players like Simao, Sergio Verdú or Stuani. They arrea dangerous team that has been doing things very well in recent times. We require a high concentration game."

He recognizes that the changing room is in good spirits after Thursday's game in Moscow. He states that "it is not good to be knocked out. Apart from a passage in the first half of the first leg the team did everything they could to get through. The team proved to have integrity and to be competitive. And at this important stage of the Championship and Cup the boys who went to Moscow showed that."

“The most important match is tomorrow, it is the next one

The manager quickly resolved the dilemma that was asked about whether the team thought more about Sevilla in the Cup, or Espanyol in La Liga. Simeone said that "Our working idea is to take each game as it comes. Ahead of the match against Espanyol, a team we have a lot of respect for and rival we will have to be at our best. We thought we could go to Russia with the players who went and proved that we were good enough to get through. Here was another group at training who are heading into this game with the utmost attention and not thinking of anything else. Because we live everyday and greatly respect the league."

To end he stated that "more importantly tomorrow's game because it is the next game and because our supporter need to have a good championship. Normally, around the world, soccer fan looks first at the league table and then everything else. The League is important. It was not our intention to be knocked out left out of the Europa League, but again it happens in all Championships, Italy, Spain, Argentina ... The fans want to see the team in the League. La Liga is at the heart of the fans."