Diego Simeone hailed Atletico Madrid for investing their ‘soul’ into Tuesday’s triumph over Bayer Leverkusen on penalties in the Champions League last-16.
Mario Suarez’s early goal cancelled out the Germans’ advantage in the tie from the first leg, before Jan Oblak’s shootout heroics between the sticks, coupled with Fernando Torres’ decisive spot-kick, sent Los Colchoneros into the quarter-finals.
“It was great teamwork,” the Coach exclaimed to UEFA’s official website after the match.
“We started to move towards qualification in Germany, when we played the last 15 minutes with ten players.
“It was a tough game tonight. I’m proud of a group of players that always wants more.
“It’s not easy to practice a penalty shoot-out and we didn’t. It’s more about the decision of the takers and the calm of the goalkeeper.
“[Jan] Oblak had to come into a very difficult match but he was ready. His first save [in the penalty shootout] was decisive and his tranquillity was awesome.
“The team works very hard and always wants more. It’s very difficult to be among the eight best European teams two years in a row for a side like Atlético.
“All matches are the same for us. We are what people saw tonight: a team that sometimes don’t play well but put their soul into the game.
“This victory gives us inner strength to keep on competing in every match.”
