Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone says Mario Mandzukic has been playing injured for the past ten weeks.

Mandzukic won't be available against Real Sociedad because of a long-standing injury that the marksman has been ignoring.

"He has been injured for 10 games. As everyone saw, he played 88 minutes in pain against Leverkusen, showing great spirit and commitment to the team," said Simeone.

"How's this for class? Yesterday [Sunday] there was a knock at my door. Mario walks in with an interpreter, because obviously I don't speak his language. Showing a huge amount of class, befitting the extraordinary player he is, he said, 'My ankle's sore and I'm not coming up with the goods. I'm not in the condition that the team need me to be'.

"'I'm really grateful to you for telling me, because if I'd have seen you come in to training like normal, you'd be in the starting line-up again, because I view you as a starter'."