finishing in the wake of their hard-fought 1-0
LaLiga win over Espanyol on Saturday.
Atletico struggled to create many chances of note
against an organised Espanyol defence and needed
a single Antoine Griezmann strike late in the
second half to emerge victorious.
Simeone was delighted with his side's win just
days after they booked their ticket to the
Champions League semi-finals at the expense of
Leicester City, but he did acknowledge Espanyol
put up a strong fight.
"It was an even match and the decisiveness we
showed in front of goal is the reason we took the
three points," the Atleti boss said at a news
conference.
"After reaching the semi-finals of the Champions
League, this was important. We have some tough
opponents coming up in LaLiga and next up we
play Villarreal, who should be fighting for third too
given the players they have. After that we must go
to Las Palmas, so there is a lot up ahead.
"Espanyol played a good game. As a team, they
work really well and they lead you into situations
where you lose the ball, where space is created
and where they can hurt you on the counter-
attack. The first half was quite disorganised, but
the second half was more balanced."
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