Diego Simeone's admiration for in-form Villarreal means he will resist the temptation to field a weakened team in their meeting at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.
Villarreal are unbeaten in 11 La Liga games, a run that has taken Marcelino Garcia Toral's men up to fourth place, just two places and six points behind Atletico.
He told reporters: "They are a very good side, fighting for fourth place, with a good lead over fifth. Their numbers are very good. The team as a whole are very strong with a clear idea of how they want to play.
"I have an idea of what I want to do [in terms of team selection] but we play every game thinking about how important it is. And there is nothing more important than the match against Villarreal."
"The team is working well. We come from a good result away from home and a home win against Eibar and we want to continue on that path," he said.
"We need a stadium that transmits the importance of the game. I hope that they [the fans] will be cheering and making themselves heard during the game because we need them."
