Alvaro Morata hailed fellow Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann as being "fundamental" to the team's success ahead of their Champions League trip to Bayer Leverkusen.
Atleti made a strong start to their Champions League campaign against Porto last week, clinching a 2-1 victory in dramatic fashion courtesy of Griezmann's 101st-minute header.
That game was just the second in the competition's history to feature three goals after the 90th minute, while Griezmann's winner was the latest Champions League goal on record, scored after 100 minutes and 21 seconds (both stats excluding extra-time).
Griezmann's campaign has been overshadowed by suggestions Atleti are managing his minutes to avoid activating a purchase clause in the two-year loan deal they struck with Barcelona, but he has impressed when called upon.
Despite playing just 165 minutes in all competitions, Griezmann has scored three goals this season, a joint team-high alongside Morata.
Meanwhile, the 2018 World Cup winner has averaged a goal every 55 minutes in all competitions, by far the best ratio in Atleti's squad.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Morata showered his strike partner with praise, saying: "Antoine is a player who does not have to explain what he is.
"He is fundamental for us not only when he is on the field, but also for the group.
"He is always smiling, happy, he contributes many positive things to the group. He also transmits many positive things to us whether he plays or not.
"He is one of the most important footballers we have. He brings us a lot of things and when he goes out on the field, he scores goals and does it well."
Having himself averaged a goal every 148 minutes, Morata has enjoyed something of a revival this campaign following an underwhelming two-year loan spell at Juventus.
The Spain international believes Diego Simeone's faith in him has been key to his good form, adding: "We have just started. I feel very good, I think I'm working well and so is the team.
"I notice the confidence of the coach and I have always noticed it. I already told him one day that it was a pleasure to work with him, and here we are again with the same common goals.
"I am so happy to be here. I'm only hopeful for the future and I'm going to work as hard as I can to have the greatest success."
Leverkusen represent a familiar opponent for Atletico – this will be the fourth different Champions League season in which the teams have met after doing so in the last 16 in 2014-15 and 2016-17, as well as in 2019-20's group stage.
But Simeone's men have only won one of their four away games against Leverkusen (D1 L2), and the Argentine is aware of the challenge at hand - despite the Germans' 1-0 defeat at Club Brugge last week.
"I have always had great respect for German teams, they have a strong head, they are tough, they don't go down until the end and they always compete well, as Leverkusen has done every time we played against them," Simeone said.
"I saw the last games, I liked the Brugge team. [Leverkusen] ended up losing a game where they surely deserved more than the result showed.
"They are an organised team, which will leave the ball to us and will try to counter-attack with speed."
Angers 2-4 Paris Saint-Germain: Lee and Barcola bag braces as Enrique's side restore six-point lead
Paris Saint-Germain restored their six-point lead at the Ligue 1 summit with a 4-2 victory over Angers.
Luis Enrique's side did the damage in the first half at Stade Raymond Kopa, with Lee Kang-In and Bradley Barcola both scoring twice to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
PSG broke through in the 17th minute through Lee, who doubled his and the visitors' tally when he turned in Marco Asensio's low cross three minutes later.
Asensio was the provider again as the Ligue 1 leaders made it 3-0 just after the hour mark, with his centre diverted in by Barcola.
The latter grabbed his second just before half-time when he headed in from Lee's cross.
Angers made the scoreline more respectable in stoppage time, with Esteban Lepaul and Emmanuel Biumla halving the deficit for the hosts.
Data Debrief: PSG make it 30 unbeaten on the road
Now unbeaten in 30 away Ligue 1 matches, PSG are the first team in the top five European leagues to reach that mark since Napoli in 2018.
Lee scored his first brace for the club, while Asensio assisted two goals in the same league match for the first time since doing so for Espanyol against Real Betis in October 2015 (three).
Although, it was not all plain sailing for PSG, who conceded two goals in second-half stoppage time for only the second time in their history (also against Barcelona in the 2016-17 Champions League).
As for Angers, they have become the first team in Ligue 1 history to lose 15 successive matches against the same opponent.
Juventus 2-0 Torino: Weah and Yildiz lift Bianconeri to third after Derby della Mole victory
Juventus climbed to third place in Serie A following a 2-0 victory over rivals Torino at the Allianz Stadium.
A goal in either half from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz settled the Derby della Mole, and saw Thiago Motta's side extend their unbeaten start to the league season.
The Bianconeri broke through in the 18th minute when Vanja Milinkovic-Savic spilt a shot straight to Weah, who made no mistake from close range.
Weah thought he had doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, but the USA international was penalised for handball in the build-up to the opportunity.
However, Juve did put the contest to bed six minutes from time, when Yildiz nodded in Francisco Conceicao's deep cross at the far post.
Extending their unbeaten streak against Torino to 18 matches, Motta's side moved to within a point of Serie A leaders Napoli.
Data Debrief: Bianconeri extend unbeaten start with yet another clean sheet
Juventus have now registered nine clean sheets in Serie A this season, the most by any team in the big five European leagues.
Weah got the ball rolling, as he became the second American after Weston McKennie in December 2020 to score for the Bianconeri against Torino in Serie A.
Yildiz then sealed the victory. The 19-year-old became the third-youngest Juventus player to find the net in the Derby della Mole, after Felice Placido Borel (18 years and 243 days in 1932) and Bruno Nicole (18 years and 244 days in 1958).
Meanwhile, Torino have now suffered three successive defeats without scoring in Serie A for the first time since 2014.
Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham: Smith Rowe and Wilson send Silva's side up to sixth
Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Wilson were on target in either half as Fulham triumphed 2-0 over 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Smith Rowe broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, taking Raul Jimenez's pass into his stride before finishing past Dean Henderson.
Fulham forward Smith Rowe had another goal ruled out in the second half for offside, before Daichi Kamada's 76th-minute red card for a poor challenge on Kenny Tete made matters worse for the hosts.
Wilson, the two-goal hero against Brentford on Monday, made sure of all three points with seven minutes remaining, latching onto Alex Iwobi's superb throughball and slotting home.
The Wales international saw another late strike overturned for handball, but another London derby victory moved Marco Silva's side up to sixth place and saw them join a cluster of sides on 18 points.
Meanwhile, Palace's sixth league defeat of the season leaves them 17th and just a point clear of the relegation zone heading into the international break.
Data Debrief: Cottagers extend streak as super sub Wilson strikes again
Fulham have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four away league games against Palace, not going longer without conceding against a single opponent on the road.
Now unbeaten in seven Premier League London derbies, the Cottagers are now on their joint-longest run without defeat in such matches.
Wilson sealed the victory with his third goal as a substitute in the space of a week. Only Collins John (four) has netted more times as a substitute for Fulham in a single season than the Wales international.
A difficult day for Palace was worsened by Kamada's dismissal. Three of the Eagles' last six Premier League red cards have come against the Cottagers, against no other side have they seen more.
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