Diego Simeone 'reasonably content after Bayer Leverkusen defeat'

Diego Simeone has admitted that he was "reasonably content" with Atletico Madrid's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.

Atleti fell behind just before the hour mark through Hakan Calhanoglu's strike, but the Spanish champions were able to stay in touch with the Bundesliga side, heading into the return game in Madrid in two weeks' time.

However, Simeone believes that the result could have been worse for the 2014 finalists.

"It was a strange game, neither side created too many chances," Simeone is quoted by UEFA.com as saying. "In the second half things were even and we tried to use our weapons. I'm going away reasonably content, because I had to use two substitutes in the first half.

"They play as they do and they do it well; it's very similar to our style. We each had a clear chance and they took theirs and we didn't. It could have been a worse result."

Prior to beating Atleti, Bayer had lost seven straight games in the Champions League knockout stages.