Revived Atleti takes aim at Valencia

Two teams vying for Champions League action next season meet at the Vicente Calderón on Sunday: Valencia, an habitual participant in Europe's premier club competition and Atlético, which has only qualified twice for the tournament in its history and a month ago appeared to be a long way off from doing so this year.

But that was before Diego Simeone had overseen his first match in charge of the perennial underachiever, left in a parlous state by Gregorio Manzano, who was sacked in December after a woeful run of form that included a King's Cup defeat at the hands of third division Albacete.

Since the Argentinean bruiser arrived, Atlético has taken 10 points from a possible 12, scoring eight goals in four games without reply.

A formidable opponent on the field in his playing days — Simeone was a key player in Atlético's last domestic success, a league and cup double in 1996 — the new coach has molded the side into a hard-to-break-down unit.

Another key element of Atlético's mid-season revival has been Radamel Falcao's return to goal-scoring form. The Colombia striker has found the net five times in the past four games and is tied with Gonzalo Higuaín in third place in the Liga scoring chart.

"We are outside the European places and our principal objective is Valencia. If we get a positive result, things will continue to get better, but we will continue to concentrate on the next opponent," Falcao said.

"We have improved certain aspects that have allowed us to turn the situation around but we don't want to start thinking about things that are still a long way off."

Atlético could, pending other results, find itself in the top four if it continues its current form and beats Valencia, but Unai Emery's side is unbeaten in five games and once again held Barcelona at bay in its midweek King's Cup clash at Mestalla.

Two of Atlético's direct rivals, Athletic and Espanyol, play each other at San Mamés a day earlier.

Like Valencia, the home side has an upcoming King's Cup semifinal second leg, against Mirandés, in the back of its mind, but it is unlikely Marcelo Bielsa will rest any of his star players to face Mauricio Pochettino's high-fliers.

Spain forward Fernando Llorente is in peak form, bagging five goals in Athletic's last two games. Athletic lies in sixth on 29 points, the same tally as Atlético, while Espanyol holds a two-point advantage in fifth, level with Levante, which will try to halt a winless run in the league stretching back to early December when it hosts an improving Racing at the Ciutat de València stadium.

That Juan Ignacio Martínez's side is still in the Champions League places is testament to its incredible early season form, when it beat Real Madrid during a run of seven straight victories.

"We are Levante after all, and we are fighting to stay in the division," Martínez said in a much-used phrase this season.

"Beating Racing would be a starting point, because we haven't won for quite some time."