LISBON: Diego Simeone is hoping that top scorer Diego Costa will be fit to face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Final writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Simeone, the black-clad Argentinian coach of newly-crowned Spanish champions Atletico de Madrid, refused to confirm the apparent evidence of his team’s training session in the Estadio Benfica.

His focus, he insisted, was on preparing his entire squad for the club’s first appearance on the elite stage since the 4-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in the event’s only replayed final all the way back in 1974.

Simeone said: “We have to concentrate on the game and ensure that the player shut out everything apart from that. Costa and Arda Turan are the two players who have had some concerns and we will see how they feel in the morning, discuss the situation with them and decide then whatever is necessary for the good of the team.”

Asked about rivals Real, Simeone mused: “I’ve heard people say that Real Madrid are the best team in the world so we will go out to play them with all the essential humility and insight that gives us.”

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