Atletico still aiming for Europe

Atletico have struggled all season long with the strike duo of Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero coming under scrutiny for failing to fire.

On Sunday, striker Diego Costa decided it was time to take things into his own hands, leading Atletico to victory with a well-taken hat-trick.

After the game, Sanchez Flores spoke of how pleased he was with his side's performance, which was only their fourth win in seventeen games in all competition.

"We put in a very good performance against a rival in the league table," Sanchez Flores said at his post-match press conference.

"Osasuna have [a] rather aggressive style of play, but we were physically very strong."

"We dominated play and the game went as we expected it to go. We knew they'd start the match strong, but we then took over the initiative."

Following the win, Atletico are now level on points with seventh-placed Athletic Bilbao, who edge ahead into the final Europa League qualifying spot based on a superior head-to-head record.

Nonetheless, with only three points seperating the fifth to eighth-placed sides, Atletico are very much in contention for a spot in next season's Europa League, something Sanchez Flores is determined to achieve.

"I'm very pleased with the final result as this was an important game."

"It's our goal to qualify for European football again."

With eight games left to go in their league campaign, and not needing to face any of La Liga's top five sides in the remainder of their fixtures, Sanchez Flores will be quietly confident in his side's prospects of playing in Europe next season.