Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said his team were "on the right path" after they stayed on course to finish third in La Liga by winning 1-0 at Espanyol.
A very tight game was decided when Atletico talisman Antoine Griezmann hammered in from a tight angle after a blocked Saul shot spun into his path for what was the France international's 100th La Liga goal.
Although Espanyol edged possession over the 90 minutes, Simeone's side gave up few chances and kept an eighth clean sheet in their past 11 games in all competitions.
With five matches now left to play, Atletico are three points ahead of Sevilla, who had beaten Tony Adams' Granada 2-0 on Friday, in the race for the final automatic Champions League qualification spot for next season.
Simeone told his postmatch news conference that in recent months, his team had rediscovered their old strengths and were now getting the results they needed.
"Once 2017 started, there was another different path from 2016," Simeone said. "We cannot leave that path now, defend well, work as a team, as they have been doing, and from there take advantage of situations which can help us win the team. That has always been our strength. We are repeating a lot the players, and we can play better, for sure. But the team won."
A decision to replace centre-forward Fernando Torres with midfielder Thomas Partey at half-time helped swing the game Atletico's way, Simeone said.
"We played a very good game, very important after the Champions League game on Wednesday," he said. "Espanyol always press you a lot, work very hard together and try to win the ball and counter. In the first half, we were a bit disorganised, and in the second half, we were ordered better. It was a very even game, but we were able to get three important points."
Atletico go to neighbours Real Madrid for a Champions League semifinal first leg on May 2, but Simeone said that his only focus at the moment was their difficult domestic schedule.
"We have a very hard week in La Liga, against very tough opponents," he said. "Espanyol always make it tough for us. Now we have Villarreal [on Tuesday], who have a lot of technical quality, and then we go to Las Palmas [next Saturday]. So imagine all we have in front of us."
A visibly exhausted Griezmann spoke on beIN Sports after the full-time whistle and admitted his team had needed to battle to get the three points and hang on at times.
"We knew we were going to suffer," Griezmann said. "They are a strong team at home. We kept in it until the end, got 1-0 up and were able to hang on well for the win. This is normal with so many games, some are harder than others, but the important thing was the three points and now to think about Villarreal."
Question 3 of the interview was about Griezmann's future and a possible transfer next summer, with the reported Manchester United target reacting by walking straight off camera.