Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone appeared in a press conference following the 4-1 victory over Club Brugge in the second leg of the playoff qualifying for the Champions League round of 16, after the first leg ended in a 3-3 draw.

The coach said about qualifying for the round of 16: "We are not thinking about Liverpool or Tottenham now. We are enjoying today's match, and returning to the round of 16 is very important. We hope to continue developing and progressing. The players are putting in tremendous effort, as they are playing a large number of matches."

He added: "Sorloth? I felt he was in good shape, and he gave the team what it needed because he is different from the others. When you have a strong player capable of holding the ball and leading the team forward, it makes a difference. He delivered an outstanding performance in Bruges and against Espanyol, and he repeated that today."

He added: "I don't think we suffered much, but the opponent is an organized and good team, having reached the round of 16 last season. Jan Oblak made an important save, and there was a penalty for Giuliano that I'm not sure about. In the second half, we needed to increase the pace, and with Johnny Cardoso's goal, we started to impose our control and became the better side."

He continued about Johnny Cardoso, saying: "We signed him to participate regularly. We need consistency from him, as he did today and against Espanyol. He recovered many balls and contributed to the team's balance, and that's what we want from him."

He added: "Your feelings? I was moved because there is a lot of work behind the scenes. The new players are making an effort to adapt to the team. I liked Lookman's entry, and he will get better over time. Here, there are no names, the match is 90 minutes, and that's why we saw Griezmann and others come in."

Regarding Griezmann's future: "I won't speak on his behalf. I love him a lot, and we've talked about many things. I hope he chooses what he sees as best for himself, as he deserves that."

He concluded his remarks regarding his technical decisions by saying: "In my position, I must make the right decisions for the benefit of the team, as happened previously with Griezmann, and today with Julian. This is part of my job."