Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hailed his side’s character and fighting spirit after they lost Tuesday evening’s Champions League semifinal 2-1 at Bayern Munich but qualified for the final on away goals.

Atletico went to Munich with a 1-0 lead from last week’s first leg, but Bayern soon evened things up when Xabi Alonso’s free kick was deflected past visiting Jan Oblak as reward for a super-fast start from Pep Guardiola’s side.

Just after half-time, a lightning counter-attack brought a vital away goal for Atletico from Antoine Griezmann, and even though Robert Lewandowski headed the teams level on aggregate late on, Simeone’s side held on to progress to the decider against either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Milan on May 28.

Speaking to Spanish TV channel Antena 3 after the final whistle, the Colchoneros coach admitted that Bayern had played a “fantastic” first half to come back into the game, but his team had been able to respond after the break.

“The first time we saw a tremendous team, pressure, play, positioning, pace, aerial power, speed — they were fantastic in the first half,” Simeone said. “We had not much of a response. In the second half it was a different game, more balanced, we countered well and scored. That allowed us to get closer to the end, with the advantage of the goal at the Calderon.”

A dramatic game also saw each side miss a penalty as Oblak saved from Thomas Muller when Bayern were well on top during the first half, while Manuel Neuer stopped a Fernando Torres spot kick which might have made it more comfortable for Atletico at the end.

Read more: http://www.theinfostride.com/2016/05/my-young-players-are-making-us-proud-diego-simeone/#ixzz47hKeJBcE

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