Diego Simeone conceded that his team were made to suffer during last night’s Champions League game at Anfield and their job is to now ‘get better’.
Liverpool scored two first-half goals through Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane before Atletico Madrid defender Felipe was sent off for a foul on the latter in the 36th minute.
Although this meant the La Liga champions spent the entire second-half with 10 men, the Argentinian coach was pleased with his side’s second-half performance and claimed many other teams ‘would have fallen apart’.
“I liked the way we were able to suffer in the second half. The second half served the purpose in showing us that when we press we can defend better,” the 51-year-old said, via Football365. “When you play against a team like Liverpool you have to say credit to the team for being calm and taking on responsibility in the second half. Other teams would have fallen apart.”
Liverpool dominated the game before the Los Colchoneros centre-back was given his marching orders and the red card seemed to subdue the game somewhat.
Returning striker Luis Suarez did appear to reduce the deficit in the second-half until the goal was ruled out for a marginal offside decision but was largely kept at bay for much of the proceedings.
It would’ve been great to see more goals for the Reds during the second period but it was a mature second-half performance from the side, especially with the huge fixture against West Ham just around the corner.