He also praised their manager: "Simeone's work is fantastic. You can't stay at a club for so many years without doing a magnificent job, with an extraordinary squad". Lopetegui is fully aware of how demanding the match will be: "It will be a tough game, as always against Atlético. Every match in the top-flight is difficult, but we have a spell of matches which are a bit tougher, in terms of quality and intensity. They will ask questions of us and push us to our limits".
The Colchoneros are a difficult side to work out, and Julen knows this: "Atlético are capable of changing their style, and they can use many different styles, it's one of their biggest strengths. They can do many different things with very skilful players. We will see, because sometimes they press, and when they sit back, they do that really well too... They do a lot of things right, because they are a top side". He also avoided using the injuries as an excuse: "We will influence what we are able to do. Injuries are injuries, and we will focus on those who are available and get them ready. We trust our players and we will try to get them ready in the short space of time that we have".
"We will influence what we are able to do. Injuries are injuries, and we will focus on those who are available"
Reguilón is amongst the injuries: "He has a knock, but he's trained too, so we'll see. We're busy looking for a solution and not worrying. It depends on who we have, but we will find the best solution and completely trust those who will play". This is on top of playing with a day's less rest than Atlético: "There's nothing we can do about that. We have to focus on tomorrow, that's when the game is. It's time for the team to put in a massive effort and they are keen to do so, they are motivated. It's a statistic that's clear to see but this doesn't make us less eager to win".
Asked about the difficulty in maintaining a run of results, he was clear as to why: "Every team is in this situation because it's a very equal league. We will try to focus on it and work on it, so we play better, but so many teams face this scenario. They're not just physical, they have quality and a good mentality. As you know, I have no comment on the starting line-up. We will have to see tomorrow because we played less than 48 hours ago in a very demanding match, so we will check tomorrow before making our decision".
"We will have to see tomorrow because we played less than 48 hours ago in a very demanding match"
Asked about potential squad rotation, Lopetegui gave nothing away: "It depends on how the players are. It's all going so quick that we have to try to wait for all the information, and then make the best decision. Sometimes you will rotate, but other times you won't, it depends on how you see the players and what the game plan is". Finally, he spoke about Escudero: "He gave us a huge fright, but fortunately he's ok. He's got a fracture but it's not too serious, we will try to get him back to full fitness as soon as possible".
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