Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone insists the Europa League tie against Lazio is still open despite his side taking command on Thursday.
Simeone's men took an important step towards reaching the last 16 of the competition after securing a 3-1 victory at Lazio's Stadio Olimpico.
"We made a huge effort," Simeone told reporters after the match. "We knew they were going to be a tough opponent at a difficult venue."
"We must not stop working, because the tie is not closed."
Atletico found themselves on the back foot when Lazio striker Miroslav Klose broke the deadlock after 19 minutes, but turned the score around with one goal from Adrian and two from Radamel Falcao.
"After their goal, we had the necessary patience," Simeone continued. "We know that we are playing against a very good club."
"Lazio had several players out today, but they will possibly recover in time for the return match."
Lazio coach Edoardo Reja congratulated Atletico on their performance, but also bemoaned the unavailability of several of his key players due to injury.
"I'm sorry for the result and for the goals they scored, but if I have to be objective and consider the performance," Reja said.
"Atletico Madrid were clearly better than us, both from a physical point of view and from the individual qualities on the pitch."
"I would have preferred to play this match with all the players of my team, but unfortunately that wasn't possible because I have a lot of injured players."
"We need to give Simeone credit for the victory because he managed to give character and strength to his team."
| # | Player | Bookings |
|---|---|---|
| 83 | F. Marchetti | |
| 78 | L. Zauri | |
| 21 | M. Diakité | |
| 20 |
G. Biava
|
|
| 29 | A. Konko | |
| 24 |
C. Ledesma
|
|
| 11 | Matuzalém | |
| 8 | Hernanes | |
| 15 |
Á. González
|
|
| 87 | A. Candreva | |
| 25 | M. Klose |
 19'
|
| Coach: E. Reja | ||
| # | Player | Bookings |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | T. Courtois | |
| 23 | Miranda | |
| 6 | Filipe Luis | |
| 2 | D. Godín | |
| 22 |
Diego
|
|
| 20 |
Juanfran
|
 51'
|
| 14 | Gabi | |
| 4 | Mario Suarez |
26'
|
| 19 | Koke | |
| 7 |
Adrián
|
25'
|
| 9 | R. Falcao |
37'
63'
|
| Coach: D. Simeone | ||
| # | Player | Bookings |
|---|---|---|
| 33 |
for G. Biava 46' |
|
| 18 |
for Á. González 54' |
|
| 41 |
for C. Ledesma 84' |
|
| 1 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 19 | ||
| 53 |
