Torres better against tired legs - Simeone

The striker rescued a point for his side on Sunday and won the praise of his coach in the process.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone says Fernando Torres is more effective against tired defenders after he scored a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw with Levante.

The striker came off the bench after 61 minutes on Sunday and struck with 10 minutes remaining to all but seal third place in La Liga with two games remaining.

"When the opponent is tired Fernando Torres performs much better," said Simeone. "He came on against against Villarreal with power, speed and freshness and did the same today.
"We designed the game so that Mandzukic started and Torres could then come on and use his power."

Atletico lead fourth-placed Valencia by four points after they drew 2-2 with Real Madrid on Saturday but Simeone says the race for third spot is not over yet.

He added: "The fight for third place is very tight and competitive. We have put ourselves in a good position but there is still two games to play and anything can happen."

Defender Guilherme Siqueira then looked ahead to their next league game against leaders Barcelona and said his side will do everything in their power to get the win.

"We will go for victory against Barcelona because a win would give us third place. At this stage of the season points are critical and we will go all out to get third place in the final two games.