Mexico's Raul Jimenez Will Continue To Fight Until He Breaks Into Atletico Madrid's Lineup

Mexico international Raul Jimenez has been struggling to earn a place in Diego Simeone’s starting eleven at Atletico Madrid.

The striker made a summertime switch from the Liga MX side, Club America, to the reigning Spanish champions for a reported fee of 8.5 million. It was expected that Jimenez would challenge Atletico’s other new striker, Mario Mandzukic, for a position the Los Rojiblancos’ starting eleven. There was even talk that Simeone might pair the two goal scorers together at the front of Atletico’s attack.

But Jimenez has yet to duplicate the form he displayed while plying his trade in the Mexican league. The 23-year-old is still adjusting to his demanding new coach, as well as the new challenges presented by playing in one of the world’s best leagues.

Simeone has not selected the striker in any of Atletico’s last four matches. The last time Jimenez played for the La Liga side was during their 3-1 defeat at Valencia on October 4th.

Yesterday, the Atletico Madrid striker scored a brace during Mexico’s friendly defeat to Belarus. Speaking after the match, El Tri manager Miguel Herrera said he liked what he saw from the player and believes Jimenez needs to continue fighting for his place in Mexico’s starting eleven, as well as Diego Simeone’s side.

“Jimenez needs to fight for a place on his team,” Herrera said. “I liked what I saw, Raul responded and showed the right attitude and determination.”

The striker agreed with his national team coach and informed the press that he has held talks with Simeone about earning his place in the Atleti’s starting eleven.

“He told me I’ve got to be patient, relaxed, and he shows me in training what I’ve got to do to get minutes on the pitch,” Jimenez said.

“I’ve been through these kind of experiences several times and learned to overcome them. I hope it’s the same this time.”

“I’ve always been encouraged and I want to play, so I’m not going to give in. I’ll give 100% to be considered, to be taken into account.”

Jimenez believes that his call-up to the national team and his display against Belarus will give him added motivation when he returns to training in Spain.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy. There are challenges you have as a footballer and as a person, but I’ll continue to fight and over time things are going to get better.”

“If I’ve got to double my efforts then I will, which is what I’ve always done in my career.”

“Being picked for Mexico has helped to prove I am able to do things, that I’m ready for whatever is around the corner and I can do well.”

Programming note: Atletico Madrid vs Malaga will be shown LIVE on beIN SPORT En Espańol and DishWorld starting at 9:55am EST on Saturday.