Simeone: "Economic clout counts for nothing in the derby"

Diego Simeone gave his thoughts on tomorrow's derby in this afternoon's press conference.

Zidane is the fourth Real Madrid coach you will have faced in a derby since taking over at Atlético. What does that say to you?

I'm not in a position to comment because that concerns Real Madrid and not us. Here, the players and the club have been working hard to strengthen the club an gain consistency and stability. And results are always a help in that regard.

Guti claimed that not one member of the current Atlético squad would get a place in the Real Madrid team. What do you say to that?

We are very respectful towards Guti, he is entitled to voice his opinion. He was a magnificent player and he made a lot of appearances for Madrid; he'll know why he said what he said.

What differences have you noticed in the present Real Madrid team to the ones you have faced in the past?

Looking back over our most recent meetings with them, it's clear that we have undergone more changes to the playing staff than them. James was one of the latest arrivals but Cristiano, Modric... They're a tough and complicated rival to take on. We'll need to put in a great effort in defensive to keep their attack in check.

Who would you perfer to drop points this weekend, Barcelona or Villarreal?

The most important thing is that we always win our games; it's difficult to gauge what our rivals might do. We'll try and take our game to where we feel most comfortable.

Who's the best actor for you -  Filipe, who says the league title race is over, or Cristiano, who insists that Madrid are still in the hunt?

You come across many different actors in the film industry - some are more expressive than others. I'll leave it up to you to make your choice.

The team's generating chances on goal, but is struggling to score; what can you do to resolve that?

The only formula that I know of is to continue generating chances. That's the only way. Sometimes one goes in and you stop attacking. It's plain to see that strikers who score goals live for the moment and sometimes they are more clinical than others. Let's hope the latter happens for us soon.

Two teams with different spendings budgets will be face to face tomorrow...

Economic clout doesn't come into it if you're talking about one game. Economic differences are noticed over the course of the season. Normally, the clubs with bigger budgets finish higher up the standings.

Is tomorrow's game Atleti's last chance to stay in the title race?

I can answer that in two ways. While there are points to play for, the league is still on. But it's clear that winning it is very complicated for the distance between Barcelona and the rest of us.