Diego Simeone praises substitutes

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes that his substitutions made the difference in Friday's 2-0 win over Elche.

Diego and Jose Sosa both entered in the second period at the Calderon as the capital outfit moved six points clear at the top of the La Liga table.

"We had the usual system but I decided to put Adrian on the right wing to create problems for Cristian Sapunaru, who is not left-back," Simeone told reporters at a press conference.

"That imbalanced the team, though, and they had more people in the middle of the field when there was a second ball.

"Then, with a 4-4-2, we were stronger, more together and that made us more dangerous. Diego gave us more depth in midfield while Sosa did very well with the corner that made it 1-0."

Atletico are in Champions League semi-final action against Chelsea next week.