Diego Simeone credited the competitive spirit which courses through his Atletico Madrid squad after a depleted lineup still beat Real Madrid 2-0 in their Copa del Rey last 16 first leg match.
Simeone made seven changes from his previous starting XI, including giving Fernando Torres a second Atletico debut. But his team still found a way to win over a Madrid side which looked stronger on paper even with Cristiano Ronaldo starting on the bench.
After an even first half Raul Garcia's penalty opened the scoring, and even with Ronaldo introduced off the bench, Atletico moved into apparent control of the tie through young centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez's headed in a corner in the 76th minute.
The Colchoneros boss told his post-match news conference at the Estadio Vicente Calderon that tough internal competition among all his squad members was what drove the team on to compete in the Copa, as well as La Liga and the Champions League.
"The truth is that for me this game is about competing," said Simeone. "And to be able to compete outside, you must have competition internally. The coaches and physios do great work to have everyone ready. If we want to stay in three competitions, we need the group.
"With 12 players we cannot compete, we need 20 or 21. Whatever game we play we try to compete with the weapons we have, and show what playing for Atletico Madrid means."
Returning hero Torres played his first game for his boyhood club in more than seven years and was caught offside more often than he shot at goal during just under an hour on the pitch. However, the 30-year-old still went home with his first-ever derby win, and would improve when he got to know his new teammates better, Simeone said.
"The presence of Fernando brought enthusiasm and energy," he said. "He is strong, and quick, obviously he needs time to fit in with and understand his teammates. He needs to learn when to press and when not to. With minutes he will understand it better."
Simeone said his changed team needed time to settle into the game, but after a sticky start dominated the proceedings.
"It was always a tough game, and they began better than us, especially in the first 15 minutes," he said. "We had a lot of changes, but the kids did very well. As the game went on we got better, became more competitive, and got closer to the game we wanted to play. The second half was pretty good, very complete, with good work. Our changes helped us occupy the spaces to defend well."
There was special praise for 18-year-old homegrown defender Lucas Hernandez, and back-up goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who both did very well, according to their coach.
"Lucas is a young kid, who has been working with us a while," he said. "I like competitive people, who are intense, who you know are out there on the pitch. I am very happy with him, and also with Oblak, who gave the team security with his early save from [Sergio] Ramos."
An away goal for Atletico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in next Thursday's second leg will surely kill the tie, but Simeone said at the moment he was fully focused on first facing Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
"The truth is that, with such an important Liga game on Sunday, in this moment we will put the Copa on pause. On Monday, we will meet to look for the best way to prepare for the return game. Today was an important game, the first part of a two-legged tie. We have a lot of respect for the opponent, they have a great coach, for sure the tie is not over yet."
It was Atletico's third straight win against Real Madrid; and they tied for their longest win streak in the Madrid derbi.
Simeone said that new signing Cani, who has arrived on loan from Villarreal for the remainder of the season, would help Atletico to keep competing on so many fronts.
"Cani brings us quality, a player like Arda [Turan] and [Antoine] Griezmann," he said. "He allows us to have more options, and to compete as we want to do."