El Clasico helps Atletico Madrid - Simeone

Omnisports

March 31, 2016 9:57 AM

Atletico Madrid must not waste the chance to take advantage of their closest rivals playing in El Clasico, head coach Diego Simeone says.

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Diego Simeone has urged Atletico Madrid to win at home to Real Betis on Saturday and capitalise on the Clasico clash between their two closest La Liga rivals.

Atletico are second in the table, nine points behind Barcelona and one clear of city rivals Real Madrid.

Those two sides meet after Atletico's match with Betis, meaning a victory for Simeone's men would put pressue on both to produce a result.

Asked if he would watch the Clasico, Simeone said: "Yes, it is at half past eight, a schedule that means it can be viewed calmly!

"The result? We just want to beat Betis. El Clasico does not depend on us and, when it does not depend on you, you just have to sit, wait and watch. If we do things right, any result will favour us."

Simeone insisted he was not concerned about Zinedine Zidane publicly targeting a second-place finish as the latter stages of the Champions League become the priority for Madrid.

He added: "Any coach's opinion is respected, but we always look at ourselves and do not think about what others do.

"The only thing that really depends on us is trying to do things well. We will go with hope and enthusiasm to a stadium which I imagine will be full

"We will have to produce a performance with great intensity from the beginning."

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