Diego Simeone dodged a question rather than comment on the punishment handed to Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior.
Vinicius was suspended for four matches after being sent off against Villarreal in La Liga. Two matches came for misconduct after he pulled an opposition player's hair, and two more for protesting against the referee.
Atletico Madrid went through something similar last season, when their former player Iker Luque picked up a three-match ban during a reserve-team game against Ponferradina.
The newspaper Marca carried Simeone's comments from the pre-match press conference ahead of Atletico's trip to Espanyol tomorrow, Saturday, in the ninth round of La Liga.
Simeone said: "The difference in punishments between Vinicius and Iker Luque? Espanyol."
One word. "Espanyol." That was the Argentine's way of refusing to discuss the ban handed to the Real Madrid star.
On tomorrow's game, Simeone explained: "There is always room for improvement in every aspect. Winning five matches does not mean you are doing things extremely well. There is always a bit of luck."
He noted: "Koke and Cardoso will not be available to us tomorrow, and that is why we have an important squad of players. At the end of the season it will become clear how important that is."
He stressed: "We are still in the building phase. We have to manage the players' minutes, but always with the aim of winning matches."
On Pablo Barrios, he added: "Pablo Barrios? All these words must not affect him negatively or weaken him. Pablo is a hugely important player for us."
Turning to his captain, he pointed out: "Koke? He is going through the stage we all go through when we lose a member of the family. He is also suffering some pain in his leg, and that is why we decided not to take him with us tomorrow."
He concluded: "I appreciate Manolo Gonzalez, the Espanyol coach, who always produces good competitive levels under his leadership. The players know what they are playing for, and when a team knows its style of play, that comes down to the coach. They are a team that works well and has great competitive ability, and we have always faced difficulties against them."