Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone refused to look for excuses in the wake of his side's 2-0 LaLiga defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Second-half penalties from Carlos Vela and Willian Jose saw Atletico beaten for the second time this campaign and Simeone believes the home team were simply the better of the two sides at Anoeta Stadium.
"We never look for excuses," Simeone told reporters.
"Both of the penalties were correctly awarded. The referee judged the action well.
"Our defeat was a result of Real's good play. We played well in the first half and had good opportunities to score, such as Kevin Gameiro's chance, but in the second half Real Sociedad started better and from the first penalty onwards we could not find a way to equalise.
"It is true that away matches are proving difficult for us this term."
Atletico sit third in the table with 21 points from 11 games. Both Sevilla and Villarreal are potentially able to climb above them on Sunday.
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