Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone says he never panicked in the final stretch of their title winning season.
Atletico had stumbled in recent months, but held strong as victory over Real Valladolid on Saturday saw them win the LaLiga title by two clear points from runners up Real Madrid.
Simeone said, "The match with Betis. There was a click. We came from coronavirus, injuries ... Problems of all the teams in a complex, very tough year. After that day I sensed that we were close. When there were four dates left, inside I knew that we would not fall away.
"The one of Barça also, that game told us that we could do it. The team played a great game, with strength, pressure, personality… when there is so little left to go and you get that together, I wasn't worried.
"If Madrid won they would go first, but everything remained the same and the road was hard and difficult, but we could see something else."
He added: "The merit is that we were four teams fighting for the championship, then we were three, Real Madrid and Barça were chasing us and it's not easy for them to chase you because you know they're going to win, they usually win. That raises what I said about resistance, about living with the pressure to win..."
