Diego Simeone is hoping the success his Atletico Madrid players had on international duty will revive the club's fortunes after enduring a difficult month.

Before the international break, Atletico suffered back-to-back LaLiga defeats against Getafe and Barcelona and were also eliminated from the Champions League last 16 after a controversial penalty shoot-out.

It leaves Simeone's side in third place, seven points behind Barcelona, who staged a stunning comeback to beat them 4-2 in the final 20 minutes on March 16.

However, some key Atletico players have since tasted success for their national teams in World Cup qualifiers.

Diego's son, Giuliano Simeone, scored for Argentina in a massive 4-1 win over Brazil, with the Albiceleste's place at the 2026 tournament also confirmed, while Alexander Sorloth scored twice in wins for Norway. 

"All the international guys, going to the national team is a positive energy," Simeone told reporters on Friday ahead of the weekend's visit to Espanyol.

"They did well, and after the game against Barcelona... winning always makes you happier."

Simeone, who has led Atletico to two LaLiga titles, said the title race was far from over, with 10 rounds still to be played.

Atletico are now given just a 1.7% chance of winning the league by the Opta supercomputer, with Barcelona the most likely to win at 77.5%, while Madrid's chances sit at 20.7%.

"I think the last five games are the ones that decide the seasons, and whoever arrives with options are the ones who will compete for the objective," he said.

Atletico have not lost any of their last three LaLiga away games against Espanyol (W1 D2) and have never gone four or more games without defeat away against them in the competition this century.

In fact, Atletico are currently on a seven-match unbeaten in their last seven games against Espanyol in the Spanish top-flight (W3 D4), though they have drawn each of the last three.

With that in mind, Simeone was quick to caution against taking 15th-placed Espanyol lightly on Saturday.

"LaLiga is complicated everywhere, everyone plays well, there is no one who plays badly, everyone has their moments... we always look at the present and the present is Espanyol," Simeone said.

"Against Barcelona, we made a great effort, and then the opponent's ability could overcome us... but we are back."