Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone was delighted with their win against Girona last night.

Alvaro Morata struck late for the only goal of the game.

Simeone said, "This pitch is always difficult for us, Girona play very well. In some transitions they could have hurt us more, but from the 20th minute onwards the team created important situations.

"Last week (against Sevilla) we were overwhelming, today we failed to make two chances from Depay, one from Griezmann and a header from Hermoso that could give us that necessary advantage.

"Girona came from eight games with wins and draws, losing only to Barcelona. They created more in the second half, Riquelme had a good chance, another David Lòpez and Oblak solved it very well. I think the substitutions gave some vitality, De Paul, Correa, Morata entered well to run, Saúl and Witsel accompanied and the endgame, where every detail can determine victory or defeat, was won from our part.

"When you have two or three clear chances like in the first half with two from Depay and one from Griezmann, you think the game is getting complicated, this field is insidious. With the changes I tried to give more vivacity, moving Griezmann to see how to find the result. Luckily the victory has arrived, and on Saturday we expect a Metropolitano with great enthusiasm and desire to help the team.

"Winning 1-0 is not easy. You have to have a lot of concentration to defend well and many of the teams that win like this are improving a lot defensively. We all would like to be strong and win with many goals, but the required concentration is very high, more than when you win 2-0 or 3-0. It has been repeated many times, and I am pleased that many of those I listen to appreciate the 1-0's that have been seen lately. How many goals have the leaders conceded? Eight. Those who defend well usually end up taller than those who do it worse."