Simeone keeping focus on Atletico, not on wider title race

Diego Simeone says he is only focused on Atletico Madrid – not the teams around them in the LaLiga table – ahead of travelling to Levante.

Atletico sit second in LaLiga after 10 matches, but given they play before Barcelona on Saturday, they could at least temporarily move to the summit with a win over Levante.

Simeone's side have won each of their last six league games and are unbeaten across eight matches in all competitions (W7 D1), meaning they head into this game in strong form.

And a win here would be a major milestone for Simeone, who has won 343 of his 564 LaLiga games so far (D123 L98) and could equal Luis Aragones (344 wins in 756 games) as the manager with the most victories in the competition's history.

But the Argentinian is not focused on any of those things, insisting he is only looking ahead one game at a time.

"I don't want to focus on other teams. We'll go through good, bad and average spells because that's life," he said.

"Different things happen in a title race; when you manage to recover quickly from difficult moments, that's when you end up competing to win."

Levante sit 14th in LaLiga with 10 points and have won just one of their last seven league matches.

While they have struggled to build momentum, Simeone was also wary to say his team were in their full groove ahead of the clash, claiming they still have work to do before they are at their top level.

"Reaching 100% is very complex, a very high standard," he said.

"To get there, we still have a way to go; we need to see how we manage our efforts, the changes, and get the most out of the players.

"We need to play a strong match against an opponent that performs very well at home, with excellent teamwork, and we have to take the game to where we can hurt them."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Levante – Nacho Perez

Nacho Perez scored his first goal in his last LaLiga game against Real Sociedad, becoming the youngest player to score for Levante in the competition in the 21st century (18 years and 54 days old).

Atletico Madrid – Julian Alvarez

Julian Alvarez has scored in his last two games for Atletico in all competitions (two goals).

He could score in three consecutive matches for the Rojiblancos for the first time since September 2025 (three games, six goals).

MATCH PREDICTION: ATLETICO MADRID WIN

Levante have not won any of their last six home games against Atletico in LaLiga (D4 L2), after winning six of their first 11 home encounters against them in the competition (D2 L3).

Atletico have drawn on their last three visits to the Ciutat de Valencia in LaLiga; they have not recorded four consecutive away draws against the same opponent in the competition since January 2004 against Albacete.

In fact, under Simeone, Atletico have won just 18.2% of their away LaLiga games against Levante (P11 W2 D6 L3); only against Barcelona (7% – P14 W1 D4 L9) do they have a lower away win percentage against any opponent they have faced at least twice in the competition with the Argentinian manager.

But Atleti have won their last six LaLiga games, with the last four being by a one-goal margin. The Rojiblancos have not achieved seven consecutive victories in the competition since January 2025 (W8).

Levante, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last 11 home games in LaLiga (W8 D2), a 2-4 defeat against Barcelona in September; only Barca (10), Real Madrid (10) and Atletico (eight) have achieved more home wins than them in LaLiga since the start of March 2026 (seven, level with Real Betis).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Levante – 19.7%

Draw – 21.7%

Atletico Madrid – 58.6%