Celades: "Winning always provides a boost -especially at places like the Wanda"

Valencia CF coach Albert Celades is predicting a tough game against Atletico Madrid on Saturday (4pm CEST), and previewed the contest in his pre-match press conference.

The keys to the game

"We know that we have a very difficult game ahead, against great opposition who have been competing at a high level for many years. Few teams compete as well as them. However, we will go there with the mentality of trying to win."

Valencia CF winless at the Wanda Metropolitano

"If the team haven't won there, then it's because it's very difficult to do so. We will have many difficulties, but we have the ambition of beating them there."

First time wins at Stamford Bridge and San Mamés

"I'm going to try to do as best I can, and I hope these achievements can be repeated at the Wanda Metropolitano. Winning always gives you a big boost, and even more so at grounds like this one."

Scoring against Atletico Madrid

"They are a team who concede very few goals. They are solid in defence. Beating them -or even scoring against them- at their home ground is very difficult, but we're going to try."

Closing in on Atletico

"Using objective data, recently FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been the three sides above the rest. Hopefully we can move closer to the performance of Atletico, which they've had over the long term.

"They've spent many years playing very well, competing like few other clubs, and getting amazing performances from the players. They've done fantastically well. I hope we can get closer to this, little by little, but we know what the reality is right now."

Concerns for the game

"We're worried about everything. They are one of the best sides in Europe and in the world. Besides their great individual talents and a great coach, the strength of the team is the collective. They are an example of great players working for the team, and that is the biggest strength that they have."

Carlos Soler's return

"He's been training in full sessions for several days, and if he's in the squad then it's because he could be able to help us at any time."

The international break

"We've been trying to make the most of these days of training without games to play to continue making progress. They aren't the best sessions in terms of the number of players we have available, as many go away with their national teams, but we can't stop still and think that we can't do anything if not everybody is here. We have to try to make the most of the sessions.

"In terms of a percentage for my happiness, I couldn't tell you. I'm happy with the response from the players. These games on the return from international breaks aren't the easiest either, because there is always some uncertainty about the players after coming back from long journeys and games. There is that uncertainty due to how little time they've trained with us, but we have to adapt to these situations as best we can."