After Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone set a record by surpassing one of the Spanish training legends, following his 2-0 victory over Villarreal in the Spanish Football League on Sunday evening, he praised striker Joao Felix, who starred in the match despite his participation as a substitute, and confirmed his readiness to face Real Madrid in LaLiga.

The Spanish newspaper "MARCA" said that Simeone reached by defeating Villarreal to the 308th victory with Atlético, equaling the record recorded in the name of the late Spanish coaching legend Luis Aragones, who was surpassed by the Argentine coach by achieving these victories in 512 matches with 99 matches less than him. With his first win, Atlético will also surpass him in the number of wins.

Summary of the @AtletiArab goal against "Villarreal" 📺⚽ # VillarrealAtleti 0-2 pic.twitter.com/vJVRP9AGXY

- LaLiga (@LaLigaArab) February 28, 2021

After the precious victory, which stopped the point bleeding, Atletico strengthened their lead in LaLiga with 58 points in good timing before an important confrontation in the capital Derby with the defending champion Real Madrid (52 points), who are seeking to win to reduce the difference with the leaders and overcome their rivals Barcelona.

🔝🔝 @AtletiArab consolidates its lead in the #LaLigaSantander ranking, moving away from the nearest chasers by 5 points (with a missing match) pic.twitter.com/RLyn6EtH2W

- LaLiga (@LaLigaArab) February 28, 2021

Before facing Atletico at home, Real Madrid will play Real Sociedad this evening, and they will clinch the top if they win the two important matches.

"We will enter the summit with a lot of hope, energy and desire to continue improving," the Argentine coach said.

After the victory over Villarreal, Simeone paid tribute to his striker Felix, 21, who came as a substitute in the competition and scored the winning goal.

As a "punishment" for the decline in the level, the young Portuguese striker, who joined Atletico in a record deal for 126 million euros (152 million dollars), was out of the starting line-up for the second time in 3 matches, and it was not effective when he started a match that ended in a 0-1 loss to Chelsea in the League. European champions last Tuesday.

Felix participated at the start of the second half while Atletico advanced with a goal against Villarreal, and clinched the victory with a low and powerful shot, to score for the first time since the end of last January.

Simeone said, "He scored a great goal and left an impressive footprint, and that's what we want from him. I like the players to fight and try to prove how strong they are. He is very important to us."

The Portuguese player celebrated the goal by placing his finger on his lips, but Simeone refused to talk about whether the player was trying to send him a message because the match had not started.

"We must ask him why he did that," the Argentine coach said.

"Joao hasn't scored for a very long time, and I'm happy for him because he's a player with great talent. I don't think he was angry with anyone, and he knows what we need," added Atlético defender Stefan Savic.

And Atletico entered the match under pressure from Barcelona and Real Madrid after the difference with its closest rivals narrowed to two points, with one victory in the last 4 matches in the league.

Atletico also faltered by losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League 16th round, but he responded with a strong performance and opened the scoring by Alfonso Pedraza by mistake in his own net after a corner kick, and before Joao Felix added the goal to guarantee the victory.

Simeone said, "Every time we play here, things are very difficult, but we felt more comfortable in the second half, and our level in the match improved, and we looked for the victory that we wanted and needed."