Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said his new look-side showed the same old attitude in winning 2-1 in Saturday evening's La Liga derby at Real Madrid.
Atletico went ahead early when Tiago headed in a corner before being pegged back before the break when Cristiano Ronaldo won and converted a penalty. The visitors regrouped and went again in the second half, however, and substitute Arda Turan slotted home a deserved winner against a Madrid side which looked low on ideas and energy by the close.
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This win, plus the Super Cup win over their richer neighbours in August, means Atletico have begun the 2013-14 season very positively, despite losing key players including Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, David Villa and Thibaut Courtois in the summer.
The Colchoneros boss said in his post-match news conference that he would continue to work as he always had, without getting carried away, but he accepted that such a win at the Bernabeu would bring confidence to the new players who have arrived at the club.
"This result does not change anything, but it is important for the people," Simeone said. "Ten or 11 players left. We have the base, which is the strength of this group. I hope we can keep improving. Our strength is our work. We have pace in [Antoine] Griezmann, [Raul] Jimenez holds up the ball well, [Mario] Mandzukic is a traditional player in the area. [Guilherme] Siqueira and [Cristian] Ansaldi give us options, [Jesus] Gamez is playing well. Saul will also give us options. Both [Carlos] Moya and [Jan] Oblak are working well in goal."
The result means that after Atletico went 14 years without winning at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Simeone has now overseen three wins and a draw on his last five visits.
The fiery coach -- who watched the game from the stands because of his suspension for slapping the fourth official during the Super Cup second leg -- disagreed that his side now felt 'at home' in the stadium. He did, however, admit that assistant German 'Mono' Burgos sending on substitutes Turan and Griezmann, and simultaneously moving youngster Koke into central midfield, had helped swing the game Atletico's way.
"No, like at home, no," Simeone said. "We have a lot of respect for this ground. It is difficult to play here, you do not usually win, but we began well in the first half.
"Later I did not like the team because we lacked precision between the lines and without the ball. We improved a bit afterwards. The entrance of Koke in the centre gave us fluidity, the entrance of Arda gave us creativity and Griezmann brought speed up front.
"I am taking from this game that those who were waiting came on and resolved it well."