Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone has hailed the defensive stubbornness that his side have shown in recent weeks.

Last night's 2-0 home win over Real Sociedad means that the defending champions have shipped just one goal in their last seven outings.

"For sure, being strong defensively has been our structure of these years. Going back to being strong defensively speaks highly of all the staff, of the whole group," he told the club's official website.

"It is not only the defence, because it starts from the forwards and the better the forwards work, the better the defensive work is."

Simeone's men are third in the La Liga table, six points adrift of leaders Barcelona.