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."
Tedesco 'still hurt' by France defeat at Euro 2024
Domenico Tedesco says Belgium are still hurting after their Euro 2024 exit to France as they prepare to meet them in the Nations League on Monday.
Belgium suffered a 1-0 defeat to France in the round of 16 at the Euros, conceding an 85th-minute Jan Vertonghen own goal to send them crashing out after a poor tournament.
It was a tight affair when the sides met in July, with both only managing two shots on target, though France's came from 19 overall attempts compared to Belgium's five.
And Tedesco would rather forget about that meeting as he targets a more positive result this time around.
"At the European Championship, it was a close one against France. We could have won too,” Tedesco told reporters.
"France were a bit better, they deserved to win, but we also had our chances. It would be a lie if I said that match is forgotten. It still hurts. I often think about the European Championship, but you also must look ahead.
"Looking back is not always the best solution. We have to be ambitious; it's been a long time since we beat France in a competitive match with commitment. Let us perform well, and then the rest will follow."
Tedesco also admitted that Belgium over-prepared for that meeting with France, with their adjustments to the game plan proving detrimental.
"The last match at the European Championship was different from the one now, it was a knockout match," he added.
"We learned that we adjusted our own plans a bit too much then. You always have to analyse your opponent, but we adjusted excessively."
Clarke believes Scotland 'deserved something' following defeat to Portugal
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.
Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.
It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.
"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.
"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.
"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.
"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."
Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.
The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.
"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.
"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.
"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."
Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.
"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.
"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.
"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.
"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."
De la Fuente insists Spain are doing 'something important' for the country
Luis de la Fuente believes Spain are doing "something important" for the country after they beat Switzerland 4-1 in the Nations League.
La Roja made an underwhelming start to Group A4 in a 0-0 draw with Serbia but looked back to their best on Sunday.
Fabian Ruiz's brace was sandwiched between goals from Joselu and Ferran Torres, with Spain able to clinch their first win of this season's tournament, despite Robin Le Normand's 20th-minute sending-off.
De la Fuente was particularly impressed with how his players dug in after going down to 10 men, hailing them for a resilient performance.
"I feel like we are doing something important for a country, that people identify with this group of players," De la Fuente said after the game.
"We grow from humility and sacrifice as a team. I am proud of this group of players, which never ceases to surprise me.
"If there's one thing I like to boast about, it's the pride I've always felt for this team. When these circumstances happen, one feels more proud, but to highlight a group of players that is a team, not a national team.
"This team has plenty of self-esteem and humility because what they are doing is historic.
"With 10 men, we have been able to interpret the game in a masterful way. I am very proud of this team and every day we see that we continue to grow and that we can improve."
Spain finished the game with just 33.7% possession, understandably low after having just 10 players on the pitch for 70 minutes.
They had nine shots overall, compared to Switzerland's 20, but got eight of theirs on target while the hosts only mustered three.
De la Fuente was particularly impressed by Joselu's performance, with the former Real Madrid man setting the tone from the front.
"I'm very happy for everyone, especially for Joselu because he deserves it," De la Fuente added.
"He had the best game since he's been with us, he did everything we asked of him, both when we had 11 and when we were down to 10.
"We were playing a very complete game. Pedri was playing a great game, but we understood that in order to have the chances we had, we had to make that change.
"We felt very powerful. With 10 players, we played the perfect game, we defended very well, we had a great goalkeeper..."
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