Atletico Madrid vs Malaga - Defender Juanfran wants Atletico Madrid to bounce back against Malaga

Posted Friday, October 28, 2016 by PA

Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran insists the Rojiblancos must hit back against Malaga.

Diego Simeone's side lost their first game of the season after going down 1-0 at Sevilla last week to slip behind their title rivals.

Sevilla leapfrogged them in La Liga to leave Atletico fifth, three points behind leaders Real Madrid, ahead of Saturday's visit of Malaga.

Defeat ended a run of five straight wins in all competitions and Spain international Juanfran is eager to return to winning ways.

"We want to be on top and to be on top it's necessary to beat Malaga, no matter what," he told the club's official site.

"We were looking forward to the match just after last week's match against Sevilla finished, after losing, the first thing you want is the next game to come soon, to win and to get back to having good feelings."

Atletico have lost just three of their last 42 home league games and are unbeaten in their last 21, a run stretching back to September 2015, and Juanfran knows the importance of the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

"The feelings are difficult to explain. I would like every fan to live what we feel whenever we enter the field and don the shirt," he said.

"It's something that makes you feel important, that makes you feel an enormous responsibility for all the people who support us, help us, hope we win and who want us to continue taking the name of Atletico Madrid to the highest levels. It's one of the best feelings I've had in my life."

Koke was sent off against Sevilla and is banned and Alessio Cerci and Miguel Angel Moya are doubts but have returned to training following knee injuries.

Midfielder Juanmi is back from a ban for 10th placed Malaga having missed last week's 4-0 win over Leganes.

Juande Ramos' team lost 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon last season and Juanmi believes they can take something away from their visit to the capital this time.

"Last year we came close to getting a point at their stadium, so we need to go out with a cool head, knowing we'll need to work very hard for the 90 minutes in order to claim a good result from there," he told the club's official site.

"Whenever you win there's always a good atmosphere, and the harmony amongst the players is different. Everyone's thrilled and very keen to keep earning points to reach as high as possible."

Charles Dias is out for Malaga after an exploratory operation on his left knee and will have further surgery while Keko (calf) and Diego Llorente (ankle) are also sidelined.