(Reuters) – Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was full of praise for his players and said they deserved better after being held to a disappointing 1-1 home draw by Villarreal in LaLiga on Saturday.
The home side dominated the game but had to settle for a point after fighting back from a goal down after Samuel Lino’s second-half strike cancelled out Villarreal’s opener scored by Gerard Moreno with a penalty.
“I think we were pretty much in control throughout the game. We played with the right attitude and commitment, aiming to win the game,” Simeone told Movistar Plus.
“The first half went quite well. They had the penalty and little more. In the second half we played against a team that defended well, with a lot of players and in an organised manner, waiting to counter-attack because they have a lot of fast players and they take advantage of that speed.
“We found an equaliser and we continued to play the way we wanted to, going forward. We had more than one situation where we could have won the game. But it wasn’t to be…”
Without a win in their last two league games after a 15-game winning run in all competitions, Diego Simeone’s side have lost the LaLiga lead to Real Madrid, who have 46 points and are a point ahead of second-placed Atletico.
Real also have a game in hand and could extend their lead at bottom side Valladolid later on Saturday.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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