Champions League final will not distract title bid – Simeone

Diego Simeone has stressed the need for focus from Atletico Madrid as they try to usurp Barcelona and snatch the Liga title in the closing weeks of the season.

Atletico reached the Champions League final on Tuesday after an away-goals victory over Bayern Munich, but the upcoming clash with Real Madrid in Milan is far from Simeone’s mind ahead of Sunday’s match at Levante.

With only two matches of the league campaign to play Atletico and Barca are locked on 85 points at the top – Luis Enrique’s men leading on head-to-head record – and Simeone hopes his side can frustrate their Catalan rivals once again having already knocked them out of Europe.

“Right now I’m focused on Levante, there will be 15 days to talk about it [the final in Milan],” he said.

“We have a challenge and a new opportunity to try and do well. Our enthusiasm and excitement for reaching the last round with options are untouched. 

“It is not important to look at other sides, we must depend on ourselves to get the most points and then wait and see what the rest do. 

“What does depend on us is our intensity, concentration and personality to get the result we want.”