Earlyface

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone
has expressed his happiness with the
performance of strikers Mario
Mandzukic and Fernando Torres in their
win over Granada yesterday.
Mandzukic put the hosts ahead with a
penalty in the 34th minute of the match
and Raul Garcia sealed their 2-0 victory with
a header in the 88th minute at the Vicente
Calderon.
It was the first instance of Mandzukic and
Atletico Madrid’s recent signing Torres
starting together and Simeone is enthused
with their partnership.
“Mandzukic and Torres are players with
different characteristics and I'm happy with
the way they played”, he was quoted as
saying by AS.
The win sees Atletico Madrid lie third in the
league table with 41 points, three points
behind Barcelona and four points behind
table toppers Real Madrid. Sevilla and
Valencia follow closely behind the
defending champions with 39 and 38 points
respectively.
“We're seeing a very tight championship.
There are teams fighting for third place, like
Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal”, Simeone added,
reflecting on the league title race.
“There's a lot of work ahead and we have to
carry on with the same intensity and
enthusiasm.
“The second half of the season is always
more difficult because everything is there
to be played for and all the teams play in a
different way”, the Argentine concluded.
After defeating Real Madrid in their round
of 16 tie in the Spanish Cup, Atletico Madrid
will next play Barcelona in the first leg of
their Spanish Cup tie on Wednesday.