“Obviously our budgets are not the same, but in motivation and spirit we never feel anybody can beat us.”

Diego Simeone is rightly proud of what he’s achieved as Atletico Madrid manager since taking the role in 2011, a spell that has seen the club win seven trophies. The latest of those came on Wednesday night against hated city rivals Real Madrid, as Simeone’s team triumphed 4-2 over their more glamorous counterparts in the UEFA Super Cup.

Afterwards, the Argentine club legend uttered those words to yet again offer a fierce endorsement of his team, whose success has come despite Spanish football seemingly dominated by the financial might of Real and Barcelona.

But, while what Atletico have achieved is no doubt admirable, they’ve actually spent more over the last five total transfer windows than their derby rivals.

Since the summer of 2014 – when Real beat Atletico in a dramatic Champions League final – Atletico have outspent Los Blancos by nearly £150million: an expenditure of £510.46million compared to Real’s £365.63million.

For three straight seasons, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, Atletico’s transfer expenditure topped that of Real’s by at least £50million.

This summer, the two clubs have spent nearly the same: £111.15million for Atletico, £111.83million for Real. In fact, Atletico have made the more splashy signing, getting Thomas Lemar from Monaco. Of course, that could change, with two weeks of the transfer window left and Real linked with big-money moves for the likes of Neymar and Eden Hazard.

The figures don’t account for outgoings, with Atletico usually operating under a sell to buy policy that helps fund their transfer spending. But though no policy officially exists across the city, Real have made plenty of money in sales in recent times as well. Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, have all fetched princely sums for the club (or in James’ case, will do so soon).

There’s no doubt that a financial gap between Atletico and Spain’s big two exists – but it’s not as big as Simeone claims.