Despite some obvious defensive lapses, Diego Simeone was full of praise for his Atletico Madrid side, who take a commanding 4-2 lead into their second leg Champions League tieagainst Bayer Leverkusen.
Atletico return to the Calderon in three weeks time having scored four away goals, including a penalty from Man of the Match Kevin Gameiro.
Manager Simeone was full of praise for the French winger, stating after the match that:"Kevin Gameiro has never had a better game for us."
Simeone, @atletienglish: "Kevin Gameiro has never had a better game for us." #UCL pic.twitter.com/XyiTF5LVJO
Simeone was also happy with his side'sperformanceas a whole, particularly the first half."It was an extraordinary game for us. In the first half we were nearly perfect. We played smart and clever."
Leverkusen have nothing to lose 2nd leg. We need to be careful. Even so we can be very pleased with our efforts tonight."
We thought before the game that, if we attack down our left side, we'd cause their right-footed defenders problems,� the coach was quoted as saying by UEFA's official website after the game.
That's exactly what we did. Leverkusen fought their way back into the game in the second half, but overall it's a very satisfying evening for us.''
Simeone: Leverkusen have nothing to lose 2nd leg. We need to be careful. Even so we can be very pleased with our efforts tonight." #UCL pic.twitter.com/rZCAvA2RSz
It's important to have belief when you play away from home, and I thought we had that in abundance.''
We could even have won by a higher margin, but their goalkeeper pulled off two outstanding saves to deny Griezmann.Griezmann did very well. I can go back to Madrid with a big smile on my face.''
We thought we could target Wendell, and that's exactly what we did. We did well, but the important thing for us is that we continue to improve".
It's important not to concede that many goals at this stage of the tournament, so that's something we need to work on".
Atletico now take the momentum into their next game - a huge trip to the NouCamp on Sunday afternoon.