Diego Simeone: 'We deserved to lose'

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has claimed that his team 'deserved to lose' Sunday's La Liga clash against Malaga.

The capital outfit entered the match on the back of a nine-game winning run in all competitions and only needed a point to make sure of first position in the table entering the winter break.

Ten-man Atletico conceded late on, however, as Malaga claimed all the points with a 1-0 win at La Rosaleda.

"We have no complaints about the result. When your opponents play well and solutions can't be found then you must congratulate them. They played well and we didn't have a good match. We weren't accurate in our final pass," Simeone told reporters.

Just two points separate first-placed Barcelona from third-placed Real Madrid in the La Liga table, but the leaders have a game in hand.