Diego Simeone was in frustrated, yet pragmatic mood, as Atletico Madrid lost away at Las Palmas in Friday night La Liga action.
Los Rojiblancos suffered their second league defeat of the season in Gran Canaria as Las Palmas ended a 36-year wait to beat Atletico.
The visitors struggled to impose themselves on the game throughout with Simeone acknowledging that he warned about Las Palmas’ threat prior to the match.
However, despite losing ground to their title rivals, Simeone was not looking for excuses and called on his players to recover and move on to the next game.
“The boys gave everything, they played with great determination”, as per reports from Marca.
“We had chances to score in the first and second half, but it was not to be, and now we need to refocus and prepare well for the Champions League match on Tuesday.”
Next on the agenda for Simeone is a home tie against Scottish champions Celtic in Madrid on November 7 with the added bonus of an extra rest day before the match.
Simeone’s side have picked up five points from three games so far in Group E, and trail leaders Feyenoord by a point, after drawing 2-2 in Glasgow in the reverse fixture.