Diego Simeone Insists His Atletico Madrid Side Have Come a Long Way in Recent Years

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has claimed his side have come a long way in recent years ahead of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Lokomotiv

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has claimed his side have come a long way in recent years ahead of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Lokomotiv Moscow.

Atletico head into the game with a three goal advantage after winning 3-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first leg, with Lokomotiv having it all to do if they are to progress.

Speaking to Spanish news outlet Marca before the game, Simeone claims his side have progressed a lot in recent years and reminisced on old times when Atletico found themselves in the same competition, saying his side have learned from past experiences.

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He said: "For me everything I play is important, the cup, the league, the Champions League, the Supercopa. We watch the games as a result of continuing to grow as we have been doing for six years. 

"It's made us strong because I see the old games in the Europa League and we had no sponsor on the shirt, we can not forget that if we want to grow."

Atletico have won the competition twice in 2010 and 2012, and after crashing out of this season's Champions League group stages were almost instantly labelled as the favourites to win this year's Europa League. 

However, Simeone also insisted his side aren't thinking too far ahead, and instead are only focusing on the task in hand against Lokomotiv.

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He added: "We are not thinking about what can happen later on, but about overcoming the tie tomorrow. The objective is always the day-to-day and all we're worried about is passing the tie."

Atletico will be hoping to secure their place in the quarter finals of the Europa League heading into the second leg tomorrow already with a three goal advantage. They'll be looking to somewhat make up for their Champions League failure by securing the club's third Europa League title.