Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal - Diego Simeone urges players to concentrate on Villarreal

Diego Simeone has told Atletico Madrid they must not let their focus drift from Sunday's Primera Division clash with Villarreal.

Atletico face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday before heading to the Bernabeu on Saturday night to face city rivals Real Madrid.

Head coach Simeone knows what dangers lurk if his players let thoughts of those two encounters drift into their mind before or during the Vicente Calderon tussle with a side who sit fourth in the Spanish league.

"There is nothing more important than the match that lies ahead," Simeone said on Saturday.

Assessing Villarreal, Simeone added, according to marca.com: "They are strong opponents because they are fighting for fourth place, and are many points ahead of fifth. They're competing very well.

"As a unit they are very strong and have very clear ideas of how they want to play."

Atletico headed into the weekend in second place, behind only Barcelona, and Simeone said: "Hopefully the fans encourage us from the start. We need them."

Defender Stefan Savic returns for Atletico after a two-game injury absence.

Villarreal enjoyed a 1-0 Europa League win over Italian giants Napoli on Thursday.

Midfielder Denis Suarez scored a fine free-kick and is now relishing the trip to the Spanish capital.

Suarez said: "Now we have to focus on La Liga with the same intensity that stopped Napoli getting the victory against us. We have to defend fourth place, we'll be playing against a very strong team at their home ground, but we are going completely convinced that we can defend the fourth place albeit at their stadium."

Villarreal boss Marcelino Garcia Toral must cope this weekend without defensive midfielder Jonathan dos Santos, who suffered a muscle injury against Napoli and had to be substituted.

Marcelino said on Villarreal's website: "We'll try to get him back fit as soon as possible."

Such setbacks are part of the price of success, according to Marcelino, who was keen to serve a reminder that in 2012/13 Villarreal were playing second-tier football in Spain.

Playing in the Europa League is a privilege that shows how far Villarreal have progressed, Marcelino believes.

He said: "These matches can wear the players out, but we have to remember that three years ago we were playing against Guadalajara.

"We're going to do well. Now coming to the end of the season what we're most worried about are injuries."