Diego Simeone praised Atletico Madrid for their effort and ‘dignity’ in fighting to the end to try and progress in the Europa League.
A late Radamel Falcao goal secured a 1-0 win in Russia, but it was not enough to save Atleti, who are out 2-1 on aggregate.
“It is important to compete. Once again, the team showed that it is full of men, with great dignity and commitment to the club,” reflected Simeone at full-time.
“We had an absolute intention of playing the 90 minutes to reverse the tie. We failed, but we did everything that we could try.
“When this happens it serves to further strengthen the team and the group.
“In the previous game, except for a passage in the first half when we did not reach the same intensity that we then had in the second half, we played good football and we went very close on three or four occasions.
“We said in the pre-game that we were a team that was smaller, but Atletico still have very competitive players that have demonstrated that we play with guarantees.”
Atleti may be out as a result of the aggregate score, but Simeone found positives.
“We just missed in goal superiority over the 180 minutes. We will not reach an objective, but we have the joy of knowing that we can count on guys like Manquillo or Saul, who performed well.
“A lot of guys in the League are showing continuity in dignity, commitment, belonging to the club and that strengthens us, beyond the obvious main goal to go through.”
