Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone may have been momentarily left eating his doubtful words on Friday when his side defeated their heavyweight neighbours Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup, but he still believes his side will not be strong enough to challenge Spain’s two elite sides Real and Barcelona in the major league tournament this season.
A 2-1 win over Carlo Ancelotti’s all-star Real side in the Spanish Super Cup tournament saw Atletico not only secure their first piece of silverware this season but also seal their first home victory against Los Blancos in 15 years.
Although this will have surely been a huge boost of confidence for the Atletico players, their manager’s faith in his 2013/2014 La Liga title-winning side still falters as not only has he lost three of his key players to Chelsea – Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Thibaut Courtois, he also believes Barcelona and Real Madrid will not wish to repeat some of the weak performances they displayed in their league run last season – performances that caused them to drop points – which Atletico seized to their advantage.
Speaking to reporters after his Super Cup Victory on Friday, he explained: “Over one or two games we all have a chance.
“In a league of 38 games, Barca, having a bad season according to all the experts, nearly ended up champions.
“Madrid too had a bad start to the season and if they had beaten Valencia at home four games from the end they would have been top.
“It is very difficult to fight over so many games, but in one match we are competitive and capable of beating anyone.
“Over a full year you need to do things extraordinarily well, at 110 percent like we did last year.”