Atletico meet Barca with the LaLiga leadership over the Christmas break up for grabs, with Simeone confident his players will be up for it.
Atlético's current feelings:
"What we've been talking about for a month and a half, the team works well as a unit, looking for where to hurt the opponent in order to compete and improve. We'll be playing against a team that does very well, with many young players in the middle who do very well, with Raphinha, who is one of the best in LaLiga for his behaviour, bravery and way of playing... We have our strengths, it will be an entertaining match."
More courage to beat Barcelona?
"I don't know the meaning of the word courage, everyone can interpret it in their own way. We think about the team and from there we will work according to what we are looking for."
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Lamine Yamal:
"It's clear that he's extraordinary, he's growing enormously, one of the best there is in the offensive part. They don't have anyone with those characteristics, but they have Ferran, Olmo, Fermín to look for other alternatives."
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Barça midfield:
"They will seek to put pressure on, as they have done so far and it has worked very well for them. They have not changed and I don't think they will do so with the coach, because in all the setbacks he has been in charge of the game and has had chances to win. I don't think he will change because his style and what he seeks gives him the results he wants, which is to be the protagonist. We behave accordingly to take the game where it suits us best."
'We're going to be champions'?
"When I said that, there were only a few days left, now there are five months left."
Time to say that they are candidates?
"If we propose that only against Barcelona we are wrong, we have to do it in every game. The intention is not determined by the stage."
No wins in Barcelona?
"The truth is that it's a good thing I didn't win in Barcelona because the challenge is still there. Obviously I haven't found the key yet."
A team to fight for LaLiga?
"We have the same number of points as last year, the difference is that Barcelona do not have the same number of points as Madrid or Girona. We are going down our paths, the results of our rivals will tell us how far we can compete.
Samuel Lino and Conor Gallagher:
"Conor gives us a bit more work and arrivals from the second line, and recovery. Lino is more of an extreme, more of a winger, more offensive, more dueling and more associative. They are evenly matched in terms of goals, although one seems more offensive than the other."
"With a player of his stature, it's very difficult to contribute things to his game, just to surround him so that he can generate his best play, and the positioning of these games gives him more freedom to generate what he's generating. I would like to put Sorloth, Griezmann and Julián together, but that's where the blanket starts to be a little shorter."
Where Barcelona is hurting:
"The scoring opportunities obviously arise due to the way they play, then there is the strength of their opponents. But consequently, those situations that you can have because they press you high, they leave you no time to think, they have a lot of people in your half and they play well. The strength that any opponent who has beaten them can have generates what football generates in you."