Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has insisted that it is "too early" for his team to be talked about as potential challengers for the La Liga title this season.
Atletico have won 10 of their 16 league matches - remaining unbeaten in the process - to sit second in the table, six points behind league leaders Barcelona.
The capital outfit will have the chance to cut the gap to three points when they travel to Espanyol on Friday night, but Simeone is not interested in discussing his team's title prospects at this stage of the campaign.
"It is too early to talk about the title," Simeone told Diario AS. "Journalists want to have a headline to report on but everybody here realises the situation can chance a lot and there is such a long way to go.
"You win a few games in a row and the talk is you can win the title but this is a massive task and we can only take the situation one game at a time and work hard to improve."
League leaders Barcelona will travel to reigning champions Real Madrid on Saturday afternoon.