No need to panic, says Simeone

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone refused to press the panic button in the wake of Wednesday’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Benfica.

Nicolas Gaitan and Goncalo Guedes struck either side of half-time for the Portuguese side to cancel out an opener from Champions League debutant Angel Correa.

But despite the result handing early control of Group C to Benfica Simeone is not concerned.

“It was a great game and our opponents did very well in defence,” he said. “We had chances to stretch our lead in the first half, but it wasn’t to be. 

“We need to focus on our finishing. It’s obviously a bad result, but we always had the right attitude. 

“We are second in the group so we’re relaxed and we have to wait for the next round of games to see how the group pans out.”

Jackson Martinez was guilty of missing several presentable opportunities for the hosts in what was a pulsating clash at Vicente Calderon and the Colombian striker admitted that he is still struggling for form this season.

“Our coaching staff are doing everything to help me, but at the moment things aren’t going as I’d like them to,” he said.

“We had the chance to score more than one goal in the first half, but we didn’t take it and that allowed them to equalise.

“We sat back and gave them the chance to use the ball more, but we still had chances to score and we could have increased our advantage.”

Atletico’s next Champions League fixture is a home clash with group strugglers Astana, but of more immediate concern for Simeone and his charges will be Sunday’s La Liga derby with Real Madrid.