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Third-place finish difficult for Atletico, says Simeone

Athletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid - Spanish La Liga Santander - San Mames stadium, Bilbao, Spain - 22/01/17 Atletico Madrid's coach Diego "Cholo" Simeone reacts during the match. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has acknowledged that a rampant Sevilla are going to make it difficult for his club to clinch a top-three finish in la Liga, something they have done in the last four seasons. Real Madrid top the standings with Sevilla a point behind and champions Barcelona two adrift of the leaders. Atletico are fourth, trailing Barca by six points and in danger of missing out on direct qualification for the Champions League. "We are six points behind third spot after an inconsistent first half of the season," Simeone told reporters on Monday. "Sevilla have a big advantage for getting into the Champions League." A fourth-placed finish would mean a Champions League qualifying tie for Atletico but even that is not certain as Real Sociedad are level with them on 35 points and Villarreal are four points back in sixth. Sunday's 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao capped the worst first half of the campaign for an Atletico side coached by Simeone, who took over on 2011 and Sevilla are the big difference this season. Atletico led the standings early in the campaign but a 1-0 defeat at Sevilla in October began a poor run which brought Simeone's team seven points out of a possible 21. The 2014 Spanish champions hit back with three consecutive league wins to start 2017 before Sunday's draw but Simeone is being realistic. "We are growing," Simeone said. "Each game we get closer to the consistency we want in our play so that results follow." Perhaps the most worrying statistic for the Argentine coach is that his side have not beaten any team in the top seven this season. Atletico lost to Real Madrid, Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Villarreal and drew with Barcelona and Athletic. (Reporting by Adriana Garcia, editing by Ed Osmond)