Simeone: “Lemar has our trust, now it depends on him”

Simeone attended the media to analyze the moment of Atlético and the game against Alavés this Saturday (22:00) in the Wanda Metropolitano, which may further bring the goal of the Champions League for the rojiblancos.

Does it make you angry that the year that Madrid and Barça were irregular, Atleti could not help but fight for third place?

No, it doesn't make me angry at all.

Were direct rivals expected to score so many points and Atleti to be so plugged in?

We always hope for the best of ours and we hope to get closer to the best performance so that things can happen. We cannot foresee what competitors are doing and we focus on what concerns us. We have a tough game, as always with Alavés. They work very well in defense, with passages similar to what we do and we will have to take the game where we feel comfortable and can do damage.

The Alavés arrives touched …

The need for Alavés exists, he is close to salvation and he will search in any field to try to get closer to that goal. He has lost three games, but in two of them players were expelled and it costs to compete with one less, especially after so long without playing. He beat Real Sociedad, which is a strong team. We will see what rival we find, they work well on defense and the speed of their two forwards is key. It is the most dangerous.

Plugged insole … except Lemar.

With Lemar we have bet and we continue trying to find that he can express on the field everything that excites us for what we see in training. We have shown him confidence, he has played important games and it will depend on what he manages to claim in his mind, in his inner strength and in knowing that it depends on him. Confidence in his conditions we have shown that we have and we have given him.

Mental state to play every 3 days.

Is not easy. Accustomed to playing with full fields, under the pressure of the environment, now they don't have it. They are the circumstances with which you have to work and those teams that manage to think only about the game and the team will manage to be more competitive until the end. We have to focus on tomorrow.

Many complaints are heard in other teams about the schedules, the referees …

I was pretty clear in recent days, we have always talked about no excuses, when they set a schedule for you, you have to play and win, the rest does not matter in my opinion. We focus on what is our turn and aim so that each party can solve it at any time and with what is in the matches.

Go for the fourth victory … two go 1-0.

It has happened to us many times that of not closing the game and finding ourselves with draws that took away points. Against Valladolid and Levante we generate occasions but soccer is forceful and this gives you the margin to play the end of the matches in a different way. A 1-0 is short and difficult to sustain and the attempt and the search is there, there are days when there is forcefulness and others that do not.

Many points are lost against those below …

I can't find anything significant. I understand that in these matches we could not be forceful and when you are not, the matches are long and all the teams are competitive and have players who can make a difference. In the absence of forcefulness, the rival always has the opportunity.