. "The Second Half Of the Season Is Always Much Tougher"

The Atlético coach claimed that the second half of the 'La Liga' season is "always much tougher than the first", adding that it is "natural" for the fans to be buzzing about the side's form, while stressing that his team isn't getting carried away and is focused on the match against Sevilla.

"In more than 20 questions [at the press conference], the words 'are you worried about?' were all over the place. Are you worried about this? Are you worried about that? We're fine; the team is on the right track and people know what our reality is", said Simeone.

"The fact is that we have to take it game by game. It's natural for the fans to get excited and it's nice for them to have that excitement to live off, but we live in reality. We have a tough game tomorrow and here's hoping we're up to the task".

Atlético kicks off the second half of the campaign on Sunday joint top of the league, with the same points as Barcelona. "I think the second half is always much tougher than the first, because in the first a lot of teams try to play good football and don't think about getting points on the board. It's the opposite in the second half: everyone is thinking about picking up points and not about playing good football. Everything is more difficult in the second half, but we hope to keep our run going", Simeone stated.

The Argentine is unconcerned by David Villa and Diego Costa drawing a blank in recent fixtures. "All players go through spells when they find it easier to score and others when the goal won't come, but they are players with a knack for scoring and who make good runs, so I'm sure they'll get their chance soon", he argued.