Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone defended Filipe Luis and Diego Godin following their red cards in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Liga leader Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Simeone's side took the lead through Koke 10 minutes in before Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez put Barca in front before halftime.
And Atletico's plans unraveled further before the break as Filipe Luis was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on Messi that enraged the Barca bench.
Godin was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Suarez after the hour, but Simeone refused to blame the defeat on Atletico's numerical disadvantage.