Atletico Madrid must be at their best in order to stop Real Sociedad in their tracks, according to coach Diego Simeone.
The Estadio de Anoeta outfit have won three of their last four LaLiga games and are unbeaten in their last four on home turf.
With third-placed Sevilla playing Barcelona in second this weekend, it offers the Rojiblancos the perfect opportunity to leapfrog at least one of those sides but the Argentine isn't looking past matters against Sociedad.
"Real have been growing and improving in every game since the start of the season and play some excellent attacking football with a lot of players getting forward," Simeone noted, when addressing the assembled media.
"I hope that we play the kind of game where we can hurt them.
"We are looking to improve as a team ourselves and are focused completely on what we can do to overcome Real, and we will demand a big performance in this game because what is happening elsewhere doesn't concern us."
Atleti will be brimming with confidence ahead of the game having secured Champions League qualification in midweek with two games to spare.
In reaching the knockout phase, they are the only side in the competition who boast a perfect 100 percent record but Simeone doesn't believe too much can be read into that particular statistic.
"It is luck," he added bluntly.Jan Oblak to overcome a hand knock before they travel to Real Sociedad on Saturday after the goalkeeper picked up the problem in training.
Leaving Thursday's session early, the Slovenian should be fit for the weekend although Augusto Fernandez, Alessio Cerci, and Nico Gaitan are ruled out.
Antoine Griezmann was another one to keep an eye on at Atleti's training ground, working in the gym before a slower routine on the pitch than his teammates, which he undertook alone.
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