Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has admitted that Real Betis made it difficult for his side to claim all three points at the weekend.

The capital outfit had to wait until the second period to open the scoring in Seville, but eventually secured the victory with goals from Gabi and Diego Costa.

"[I am] happy with the result," he told reporters at a press conference.

"In the first half we struggled a bit, we played the second much better. Gradually we were getting into the game and taking it to the place we wanted.

"Gabi's goal came and that calmed us down. [It] became much more difficult for Betis and we took advantage of that situation to win a very important match for us."

Atletico currently sit top of La Liga.