Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone admitted that lack of precision in front of goal dented his side’s performance as they succumbed to a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Qarabag in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Atletico Madrid’s hoes of progressing in to the konockout stages of the Champions League has been left hanging by the balance after Qarabag held the La Liga side to their second consecutive draw in Group C.
Thomas Partey clinched the equaliser for Atletico but the Spanish side failed to find the winner despite having a numerical advantage for almost 40 minutes.
The Spanish side are struggling in front of goal this season and have managed to score just once in their last eight outings. To make the situation worse for Simeone, Atletico have now drawn each of their last three competitive matches.
“Explanations are excuses. We didn’t start badly, we could’ve done more damage but weren’t precise and Qarabag scored,” Simeone said during his post-match news conference.
“We became anxious, nervous.
“The result isn’t what we wanted and we know that right now we’re having problems with scoring.
“Maybe in other years we have won games like this.
“When you score people talk about your strength, your courage. When you don’t find that goal, people have a different opinion.”
Take a bow, Thomas Partey ? pic.twitter.com/rUZvvx01dA
— ⚽️ (@WillzSport) October 31, 2017
Atletico have a tough task ahead as they require a minimum of six points from remaining games against Roma and Chelsea to at least trigger a chance of qualifying into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Qarabag gave their best but were not able to hold on to their lead, but coach Gurban Gurbanov was happy with the team’s performance.
Michel goal for Atletico Madrid vs Qarabag #ATLvCLB pic.twitter.com/Q8UKJbhkYH
— FN (@FootbalINow) October 31, 2017
“[Atletico] played well, we all know their level, but my players didn’t want to lose and showed their character,” Gurbanov said.
“We’re in a tough group, for us this is all about getting experience and learning. We’ve got two points but want to try and get more.