Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has admitted that his side struggled with fatigue in the second half of last night's goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.

The league champions had the better of the chances in the first period in Madrid, but struggled to contain the home side in the second half.

"The game lasts 90 minutes. The first half, the team played very well. They had three clear chances of scoring, it was dynamic, they played out wide but couldn't score," he told reporters.

"In the second half, Rayo was better - we didn't play against a wall, we played against a team. Being so high up you couldn't see it as well. I don't think that having me on the field would've improved anything.

"We came from playing on Tuesday and Friday and the effort from these days could be felt in the second half."

Simeone was not present on the sidelines as he served the first of his eight-game touchline ban.