Simeone: Atlético lacked defensive decisiveness

Atlético de Madrid coach Diego Pablo 'Cholo' Simeone acknowledged on Wednesday that his team 'lacked defensive decisiveness' in the draw against Club Brugge in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. 'The accuracy was there, there were situations that we could have resolved better defensively (...), today we probably lacked defensive decisiveness,' Simeone admitted at the press conference after a match in which Atlético Madrid went 0-2 up at halftime but ended up conceding three goals in the second half, which they could only compensate for with an own goal from the Flemish team. Julián Álvarez, from a penalty, Lookman, and Ordóñez in his own net scored the goals for Diego Pablo 'Cholo' Simeone's team, while Onyedika, Tresoldi, and Tzolis scored the goals for Ivan Leko's team, leaving everything to be decided in the return leg at the Metropolitano Stadium. Atlético Madrid drew with Club Brugge in a hard-fought 3-3 match in the Champions League playoffs. 'We went ahead again and I think we made mistakes that allowed them to find that 3-3,' said 'Cholo' Simeone. 'We knew it wasn't going to be easy, that it was going to be a complicated match, and that winning 2-0 there was still a long match ahead.' Simeone stated that Brugge 'drew justly' and that he leaves 'with the peace of mind that the team gave everything' although 'one can always improve'.