Soccer-Simeone sees positives after Atletico winning run ends at Leganes

MADRID : Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone praised his players and told them to stay positive despite a disappointing 1-0 defeat at lowly local rivals Leganes on Saturday which ended their record-breaking 15-game winning streak.

Simeone lamented Atletico's wasted chances in a game they dominated with more than 65per cent of possession, three strikes off the woodwork and twice as many goal attempts as the home side, including a penalty missed by Antoine Griezmann in added time.

"The team generated enough situations to have had a different scoreline," Simeone told a press conference.

"We started with a lot of energy, with key plays in which we could have found the goal. In the second half they made good use of the dead ball and after they scored they started defending better, with humility and we found it difficult to overcome that.

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"We had that penalty, but Leganes did very well. It was our turn to lose."

Simeone said he is not worried about how the result would impact his players' mental side after they lost their first game in almost three months.

Their 15 consecutive victories in all competitions was the longest winning streak in club history, breaking Simeone's own record of 13 wins from the 2011-2012 campaign.

"When you get used to winning then it's harder to lose because it's very nice. Obviously, it hurts to lose, but it's part of the way and you have to accept it," Simeone said.

"We had 15 extraordinary games, with the great joy of having generated the best record in the history of Atletico, the journey was fantastic and I only can say positive things about my players' huge effort to achieve that. Today I stick with their performance that was good and hope we can keep playing well moving forward."

Atletico top the standings on 44 points, one ahead of second-placed Real and six clear of Barcelona in third, both with a game in hand. Real host Las Palmas on Sunday and Barca play at Getafe later on Saturday.

(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Ed Osmond)