The Argentine Diego Simeone, head coach of Atletico Madrid, expressed his pride in his team's performance despite being eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid in a penalty shootout, in a match that witnessed great excitement until the last moments.

Simeone said: "The players who participated today were not in the previous penalty shootouts, except for Oblak, so the past cannot be compared to the present. We played a wonderful match, competed remarkably, and were capable of scoring more in extra time."

He added: "The referee said that the ball touched the player, but the ball did not move. I have never seen VAR call the referee to review a penalty during penalty shootouts. Nevertheless, I am proud of my team and happy with the players. We did not win, but we made them suffer. They certainly told themselves, 'These guys always make things difficult for us.'"

He continued: "We played an amazing match with great fighting spirit and tremendous effort. We dominated a team that includes top players, and we were close to qualifying."

He added: "The fans left feeling upset, but they know that the team gave everything it had. There are two types of losses; one makes you feel regret, but this loss makes me feel proud because we deserved the applause. It was a wonderful night, but unfortunately, we did not qualify."

Simeone refused to talk about bad luck, saying: "I do not talk about luck, but about pride in the team and the way we always compete. This will remain part of the club's history."

He pointed out: "Penalties are different between training and official matches, and I did not see how they were executed. It seems that Julian touched the ball during the execution, and if the referee saw that, then so be it."

He concluded: "I am proud of this team. Our fans enjoyed the match despite the result. It is true that Real Madrid always defeats us in the Champions League, but they suffer against us, they really suffer."