Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone admits they must beat Barcelona for any chance to win the title.

A midweek victory over Girona coupled with Barcelona drawing 4-4 with Villarreal has given Los Rojiblancos brief hope that they may be able to topple the defending champions.

"The reality is that the only option that gives us a chance of winning LaLiga is beating Barcelona," Simeone explained in his pre-match press conference.

"I'm depending on tomorrow's match, to be eight points behind them isn't helpful.

"The fact that Barcelona sees us as their closest competitor speaks a lot to the work of our players."