"There's no fatigue in a derby; we have a good chance of beating Madrid"

Atletico Madrid captain Koke Resurreccion said on Friday that in derbies against Real Madrid “there is practically no fatigue” and considered it a “super special” duel with “a lot of rivalry”, but, “above all, with the maximum respect that there has to be in a soccer match”.

“There is practically no fatigue in this kind of matches. They are played on their own, with the emotion that the people in our stadium will transmit to us, which will be incredible. We must not look at fatigue, but rather look at the match and face it in the best possible way with our weapons and with our people. If we face it like that, we have a good chance of winning,” said the player in statements to the club's official media.

“It's a very special derby, with a lot of rivalry, but, above all, with the maximum respect there has to be in a football match. Our people will surely be supporting us from before the match, even from now on, with many messages from family, friends and fans to support us. Above all, maximum respect for a football match, the most important thing above all is the spectacle,” he declared.

Koke recalled that the last duel against Real Madrid at the Metropolitano was the 4-2 victory in the round of 16 of last season's Copa del Rey. “It was a wonderful, spectacular match that people love to watch. Hopefully it will happen again and we'll be lucky enough to win it,” he said.

For the debutants in the derby, Koke said that “the best thing is to live it”. “I've been talking to many of them about what Atletico Madrid means and to be able to achieve great things with this club, which are different from other clubs. Hopefully we can live beautiful things, starting on Sunday in the derby,” he added.