Atletico Madrid fell to their second defeat in their Champions League group, setting Los Colchoneros up for another hair-raising battle to qualify for the knockout stages.
Their 2-0 loss to group leaders Club Brugge leaves them level on three points with Bayer Leverkusen and Porto, while the Belgian side can almost confirm top spot with a victory in Madrid.
Despite the defeat, manager Diego Simeone seemed pleased with the performance. His comments were reported by Diario AS.
“A match well-played. I think that the first half we controlled the game that we wanted to play. We had two or three important situations to score, and the lack of effectiveness made it so that the first important situation they had, they were able to put it away very well and they went away with an advantage from the first half.”
“At the start of the second they had a chance that Oblak kept out very well, and from there the man of the match was their ‘keeper, no doubt.”
Catalan forward Ferran Jutgla was the star of the show, notching a goal and assist on the night. The former Barcelona forward was a constant menace with Kamal Sowah for the Atletico defence. Simeone had opted for a back four once more after it was so successful against Sevilla.
El Cholo doubled down on his message though, believing that the match went well, it was merely the chances that changed the match. Admittedly, Antoine Griezmann was unfortunate not to score, smashing a penalty off the bar and then having a goal disallowed in the space of a minute.
“I will take forward a bunch of good things, there is still a lot of Champions League to play, we have to be calm, there is no need to make ourselves anxious, and knowing how to play these matches coming, because everything is still open.”
