Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal after they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Espanyol.

Simeone's side had 25 shots and mustered 2.71 expected goals on Wednesday, yet could not get over the line against one of LaLiga's promoted teams.

Visiting goalkeeper Joan Garcia made seven saves to ensure Espanyol took what may prove to be a valuable point in their bid to stay up this season.

Simeone said his side were undone by a "lack of precision" in front of goal.

"It worries me, as always, but I can't stop appreciating the good game the team played. When you have five clear goalscoring opportunities like the ones we had?" Simeone told Movistar.

"Well, they didn't go in, but the opportunities we created were the result of our play, not by chance. We expected to win, but they defended well and we were not convincing. If you don't score, it's very difficult.

"The team played very well, they made a very strong start to the first half. Then we dropped off a bit, that's why we made the changes. In the second half, we didn't have so many chances to score, but we played well."

Simeone made three changes at half-time to freshen things up, with Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios coming on, although eyebrows were raised when struggling striker Alexander Sorloth, a big-money addition from Villarreal, was replaced by defender Reinildo.

"We never changed the system, we continued with a 5-3-2 to balance the team, which was starting to split," Simeone explained.

"The opponent could also hurt us and we balanced the middle with Llorente and Barrios."

Girona head coach Michel has called for patience following his side's lacklustre start to the LaLiga season ahead of their meeting with Osasuna on Thursday. 

Michel led the Catalan side to a third place finish in the division last year, but they have taken one point from their first two games, including a 3-0 loss to Atletico Madrid last time out. 

Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Koke's strikes inflicted Girona's heaviest defeat since a 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid back in February. 

But Michel is unconcerned by his team's recent results, however, he acknowledged that his players are far from where they want to be in their preparations. 

"I look at the process, the performance, not the results," Michel said."I think we're far from our best, but I'm convinced we'll play a great game (on Thursday).

"The team is ready. Atletico are one of the big candidates (to win) LaLiga. We're not so bad like it may have looked like..."

Due to their impressive displays which saw them qualify for the Champions League for the first time in their history last year, a number of Girona's star performers have departed the club. 

Last season's top scorer, Artem Dovbyk, left for Serie A side Roma, while winger Savinho, who was on loan last season, has joined Manchester City. 

Aleix Garcia was also signed by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, with Michel having to delve into the market to try and fill those gaps. 

Girona have strengthened with 10 new additions, the most recent of which was announced last week as Watford's Yaser Asprilla joined for a club-record fee. 

Despite being backed by the wealth of their Abu Dhabi owners, Girona are unable to spend the finances compared to Pep Guardiola's side, who headline their City Football Group stable.

However, Michel has called on supporters to get behind his players to help them return to form, starting on Thursday night at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi. 

"We need the fans and the best version of ourselves," Michel said.

"Last year we had a great communion, the fans helped us to win points at home. That's why I ask our fans to be with us, together we are stronger.

"We have not been able to work as we wanted with this new group together in the close season.

"The team understands what we want, but it's true that we need to connect more. I am convinced that we will do it quickly."

Pau Cubarsi, Marcos Llorente and Aleix Garcia have been cut from Luis de la Fuente Castillo's Spain squad for Euro 2024.

De la Fuente named a 29-man party last month, with a youthful look to it, as Spain aim to regain European glory in Germany.

Cubarsi started Spain's friendly win over Andorra, setting up Ayoze Perez, who is a surprise inclusion in the final squad, for his debut goal.

Despite impressing in his breakout season in LaLiga, there is no place for the 17-year-old as De la Fuente opts for a more experienced group of centre-backs in Robin Le Normand, Nacho, Aymeric Laporte and Dani Vivian.

Llorente also misses out, with Cubarsi's fellow Barcelona youngster, Fermin Lopez, keeping his place after impressing with an assist in his first international appearance on Wednesday.

Garcia is the other midfielder not to make the cut despite drawing attention with Girona as they finished third in LaLiga, scoring three goals and adding six assists in the league in 2023-24.

Spain will begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Croatia in Group B on June 15, before playing Italy and Albania in their other group matches. 

Final Spain squad: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), David Raya (Arsenal), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Aymeric Laporte (Al-Nassr), Nacho (Real Madrid), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Rodrigo (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Joselu (Real Madrid), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona).

Atletico Madrid ended their LaLiga campaign with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday thanks to a first-half strike by Brazilian winger Samuel Lino and a stoppage-time Reinildo tap-in.

Atletico, who had already secured fourth place and a spot in next season's Champions League, finished the season on 76 points, 11 ahead of Athletic Bilbao in fifth.

Meanwhile, sixth-placed La Real have qualified for the Europa League.

Runaway champions Real Madrid are top of the standings on 94 points, 12 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona and 13 clear of Girona in third.

Atletico took the lead in the ninth minute after Marcos Llorente burst up the right wing and delivered a low cross to the far post for Lino, who netted with a tidy finish past Alex Remiro.

Remiro and Atletico's keeper Jan Oblak made several saves before Atletico were reduced to 10 men after Saul Niguez was shown a second yellow card in the 92nd minute.

In the last move of the match, Atletico secured the three points on a counter-attack led by Alvaro Morata, who delivered a perfectly placed cross for substitute Reinildo to tap into the empty net.

Data debrief

Diego Simeone's men ended the campaign with four wins in their last five league outings, and their performance was very much worth the three points against La Real.

Atletico accumulated 2.31 xG (expected goals) to the hosts' 0.59, scoring their 10th and 11th goals in their last six matches to end the season on a high.

Robert Lewandowski scored an injury-time penalty at the second time of asking as Barcelona secured a nail-biting late win over Celta Vigo to stay in touch with the LaLiga title race.

Lewandowski had already given his side the lead with an emphatic finish on the stroke of half-time but Iago Aspas put his struggling side on course for a draw with a deflected effort soon after the restart.

Lewandowski eventually won it from the spot in the seventh minute of added time, but only after the referee ordered a retake when his first attempt was saved by an encroaching Vicente Guaita. The result leaves them two points behind Girona in second and seven shy of rivals and leaders Real Madrid, having played one game more than both.

At the Metropolitano Stadium, fourth-placed Atletico Madrid ran out 5-0 winners over Las Palmas. Marcos Llorente and Angel Correa scored two apiece and Memphis Depay rounded things out in a one-sided contest.

Osasuna beat Cadiz 2-0 and Sevilla took a goalless draw from Valencia on their visit to the Mestalla.

In Ligue 1, departing Paris St Germain striker Kylian Mbappe found himself left out of the starting XI against Nantes only to step off the bench and bury a penalty.

Having announced his summer departure from PSG, Mbappe had to wait until the 62nd minute to see action but was ready to slot home from the spot to put the finishing touch to a 2-0 win. Lucas Hernandez had earlier put the runaway league leaders ahead on the hour.

Elsewhere, Lille moved back into third on goal difference as hat-trick hero Jonathan David put away Le Havre 3-0.

In Germany, Bundesliga’s relentless leaders Bayer Leverkusen banked another three points with a 2-1 away win at Heidenheim.

Xabi Alonso’s title-chasers have now won seven of their last eight matches, with Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli on target this time. Tim Kleindienst set up some late tension with an 87th-minute reply but the hosts could not force a second.

Third-placed Stuttgart fought for a 2-1 win at bottom club Darmstadt despite Pascal Stenzel’s red card at the end of the first half. They now sit five points above Borussia Dortmund, with the latter held 1-1 at Wolfsburg after substitute Yannick Gerhardt responded to Niclas Fullkrug’s early effort.

RB Leipzig won 2-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin scored the only goal away to Hoffenheim and strugglers Mainz recorded a 1-0 win over Augsburg.

Juventus’ hopes of chipping away at Inter’s Serie A lead were stifled as they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Verona. Juve twice dragged themselves back from a goal down, Dusan Vlahovic’s penalty and Adrien Rabiot’s second-half strike squaring efforts from Michael Folorunsho and Tijjani Noslin.

A point left Massimiliano Allegri’s men nine points behind the Nerazurri, who have a game in hand.

Napoli’s disappointing season continued to underwhelm as they were held 1-1 at home by Genoa. Morten Frendrup put the away side in front and it was not until the 90th minute that substitute Cyril Ngonge grabbed an equaliser.

Mario Pasalic, Teun Koopmeiners and Mitchel Bakker all found the target as Atalanta strengthened their grip on fourth spot at the expense of Sassuolo.