Simeone lauds Joao Felix's consistency after another decisive brace

Joao Felix followed up his two-goal showing in the midweek Champions League win over Salzburg with another fine performance in Pamplona, putting Atleti ahead from the penalty spot in the first half before missing a spot-kick shortly after the restart.

He put that behind him in the 69th minute, though, giving Atleti a 2-0 advantage with a glorious finish from 18 yards.

Although substitute Ante Budimir pulled one back for the hosts 10 minutes from time, Atleti added a third late on through Lucas Torreira's first goal following his loan move from Arsenal.

With five goals to his name already this season, Joao Felix is well on his way to surpassing last term's total of nine goals across all competitions.

He also enjoyed the second-highest pass completion rate of any Atleti starter (90.3 per cent) and Simeone is delighted with the progress the former Benfica man is making.

"He has looked good at the start of the season," Simeone said. "He has had lots of important moments. What is making everyone talk about him like they are is the continuity and regularity that he is showing in his work.

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"Last year, we spoke about things like transitioning with him and he is learning from that."

The result stretched Atleti's unbeaten run in LaLiga to 22 games – a record that equals the fourth-best unbeaten streak in the competition's history.

While the final scoreline looked relatively comfortable, Simeone says it was not without some fraught moments.

"We created chances by countering from the inside with great speed," he added. "There were more spaces and the team was creating different attacking possibilities.

"Shortly after the penalty came, we created some scoring situations. We made it 2-0 but they pulled one back and there was a lot of tension.