Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone praised his opponents for creating a difficult challenge, saying he was relieved after his side won 2-0 away to Malmo.
Simeone's men were unable to repeat the performance which saw them hammer the Swedes 5-0 in Madrid, but goals from Koke and Raul Garcia were enough to boost Atleti to victory.
Malmo, who play through the summer and were again crowned champions of Sweden, lost at home for just the second time since May. They've already defeated Olympiakos in the Champions League group stage.
Simeone said he was happy with the victory, and suggested Malmo should not be judged solely on the stature of their name.
"This was a great game for us, against great opponents. It's a difficult place to come but we played really well," Simeone said.
"We knew what the game was going to be like, because they have been performing very well up until today. We didn't expect anything less and we had a clear concept of the game.
"It is very easy to judge someone based on their name but Malmo are a great team. They have great intensity and play very good football. I knew it was going to be a difficult game and Malmo played a good game, which made us even better. The second goal really settled the game and was the killer. Malmo played very well in the second half and while they did not create a lot of chances except for the shot that hit the post, the second goal was of course a relief.
"We played very well in the first half and in the second half we suffered for 15 or 20 minutes. It's important to be able to change and adapt, but our main style never changes. This was a very difficult game and I am very happy that we very able to adapt to the challenge and win this game."
Atletico earned their third successive win, moving them clear at the top of the Group A with 9 points from four games.
"I'm proud when we win," Simeone said. "Of course it is important to play beautiful, but what makes me proud is to win games. This is a very strange group, so I don't want to relax, many things could still happen. We need to win our next game."