Koke: “With this team, not entering the Champions League would be a failure”

Koke, captain of Atlético, took stock of the team's situation in Radio Gazette, of RNE, two days after the league premiere in San Mamés. The midfielder sets aside the challenge of the Champions League to focus on the imminent, the League, and the necessary challenge of getting into the top four: “We have eleven finals.”

Sensations two days from LaLiga

“With a lot of enthusiasm and enthusiasm, we love our work, we go out of our way for it and being so long outside the playing fields makes it very strange, but we have to adapt to situations. We have had to stand for so long and after doing things in Liverpool came to a stop. It has helped us to rest as well, to refresh and now with enthusiasm and the desire to compete and that new normality “.

Raúl García, friend and rival

“We have not spoken in the last days, but at the beginning of the confinement we do worry. Beyond colleagues we are good friends. We will talk there, albeit at a distance. In the end when you make relationships for many years, not only the companions, also the families have friendship, beautiful moments are lived “.

Would it be a failure not to enter the Champions League?

With the level we have on the roster, not being in the top four for me is. That is why we are going to do everything possible to get into those four and enter the Champions League next year, it is the objective that we set ourselves and what the club requires of us to continue growing. We have eleven finals ahead.

Requirement level.

Everyone wants to win and the level grows. It has been a strange season for everyone, but you have to adapt to situations and push in these months to be able to be in the Champions League. We are there four, five, six teams for those positions and we have to push ourselves to get it.

Five changes.

Who will benefit is who wins. We have a large squad with great players and we have to be available for what we have to play, be it 45, 60 or 5 minutes. Some will benefit and others will suffer, but it will depend on how each and every team feels. As footballers we will go to death in what we touch and we must also think about health, we have little rest time and we have to dose.

Fear of injury.

Nobody wants to get injured, so you have to take care of yourself as much as possible, distribute the minutes and try to be fresh and as healthy as possible.

The Champions to a single match.

There is still a lot for the Champions. We will see how it is played. Five games are not the same as three, but this is football and let's see how we all get to August. Our mentality is day by day and our final is in Bilbao. It is clear that the Champions are excited, we are doing things well. In the end it is three games, two that you take off, but in return you do not play in your stadium. We will all be visitors and we will see …

Balance as captain.

It has been a year of transition, happy with the captaincy and with the great group that we have. I'm not taking note. Among the difficult things, as for the entire planet, the issue of COVID. It has affected us all and none of us thought it would happen. It is the most difficult thing I have experienced as a captain.

Real Madrid in the Metropolitano.

That has already been clarified. The president spoke and in principle he is not going to play there. Let's leave it there … (laughs)

Relaxation before the virus.

In the locker room we have to follow all the strict protocols that we have. Sometimes we think they are heavy, but you have to do it, not only for taking care of football, but for the whole of society. Contagions have decreased, the worse it is necessary to continue so that it does not happen again. You have to get used to the measurements and you have to take them to the letter.