Saul Niguez: 'Clean sheet really important'

Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez has hailed his team's back four for keeping a clean sheet in Tuesday's 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

Saul scored the only goal of the match in Eindhoven as Atletico opened their Group D campaign with all three points.

PSV missed a penalty during the European affair and created a number of dangerous moments during the 90 minutes, but Atletico held on to win their opener ahead of a home game with Bayern Munich later this month.

"They pushed us back in the second period and it was difficult but we defended well - as we tend to do - and kept a clean sheet, which was really important," Saul told UEFA.com. "It was a great win and really hard fought - we know how important it is to win the first game in the group. We now have to carry on and think about the next game."

Saul, 21, has now scored 14 times in 87 first-team appearances for Atletico.