Diego Simeone is pleased to see his Atletico Madrid team back to their nasty old selves ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Espanyol.

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The 2013-14 Spanish champions struggled to find form during the opening weeks of the season as they accommodated a batch of new players and flirted with a more expansive playing style, but Simeone recently insisted they got back to basics.

And Atleti have responded well, winning their last three games without conceding to climb to second in La Liga and progress to the Champions League knockout stage.

Simeone said: “We want to be a team which the opposition doesn’t want to play against, a team which irritates our opponents. The key is to maintain this style.”

Just as he did throughout the title-winning campaign, however, Simeone batted away suggestions his side are ready to mount another serious challenge after overtaking city rivals Real in second place.

“We still just take one game at a time, always trying to improve,” he said. “We know we can do this and our objective is to move Atletico Madrid forward without worrying about other teams.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Malaga boss Javi Gracia faces a make or break home meeting with fellow strugglers Granada after seeing his team sink to the bottom of the table with a goal-shy start to the season.

Reports this week have claimed that Gracia will be sacked if Malaga, who have scored just five goals in 12 games this season, don’t win.

Another highlight of the day’s action will see 40 year-old Las Palmas midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron going up against Deportivo La Coruna, the club he represented for 13 years before moving back to his boyhood club two summers ago.

Valeron made more than 350 appearances for the Galicians, winning the Copa del Rey in 2002. And fifth-placed Celta Vigo will look to get back into winning ways after losing their last two games.

Visitors Sporting Gijon also need the points, having dropped close to the relegation zone after winning just one of their last five games.