Simeone willing to adapt to keep Atletico's unbeaten LaLiga streak alive

Diego Simeone is ready to keep adapting his Atletico Madrid system to cater for returning players ahead of their LaLiga clash with Sevilla on Saturday.

After a rocky start to the season, Atletico have pushed themselves up to fourth in the table after a nine-match unbeaten streak, moving within eight points of Real Madrid.

Atletico bounced back from their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Real Betis and are looking to keep building on that result.

Jose Maria Gimenez has played in Atleti's last two wins, both of which came to nil, and Simeone noted how important it was to be flexible in order to fit his key players into his set-up.

"It's not that we choose a back four, five or six, the game can lead you to different formations depending on how the opposition plays," Simeone said.

"Against Betis, we played 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 at different times, changing according to how the opposition attacked.

"You have to adapt. There's a snapshot of how you start, but then the systems vary depending on how the opposition moves, and you have to adapt to play the game well."

Simeone has faced only Athletic Bilbao (14) and Valencia (14) more times at home in LaLiga without losing than Sevilla (13 – also Getafe and Celta Vigo).

His team are well-fancied to continue that run on Saturday, having scored at least one goal in each of their last 12 league matches (26 goals), their best scoring streak since January to April 2023 (13 games, 24 total goals).

And given their recent resurgence, which has brought Real Madrid back into their sights, Simeone was asked where he wanted his team to be by the end of November.

However, he was unwilling to look past the next match, saying: "I understand your question, but Sevilla!"

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atletico Madrid – Antoine Griezmann

Griezmann has scored in two of his last three home games in LaLiga against Sevilla (three goals in total).

Only against Celta Vigo (10) has he scored more goals as an Atletico player in the competition than against the Andalusians (nine, level with Getafe and Valencia).

Sevilla – Isaac Romero

Romero has only scored more than one goal in LaLiga against two opponents: Girona and Atletico (two goals each).

Romero has scored in two of his three matches against the Rojiblancos in the competition.