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Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone felt that his side was a "danger" to Liverpool as it fell to a late defeat against the Anfield side on Champions League matchday one.
Marcos Llorente had scored a goal in either half to pull Atletico level on the night — he also scored a brace on Merseyside when Liverpool was knocked out of Europe in 2020 — but then Virgil van Dijk edged his side in front again with a powerful header. Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah had given Liverpool a 2-0 lead after just six minutes.
And while Simeone was heartbroken at not picking up any points in the end, he was proud of how his team performed on the day. There are still seven more fixtures for Atletico Madrid to earn a place in the knockout phase.
Speaking to UEFA, Simeone said: "The truth is that it was a beautiful game, in a fantastic stadium, in front of an incredible crowd, against a team full of great players.
"We had our weapons and we gave our all to take the game in the direction that we wanted. I think we were dangerous.
"They [Liverpool] are a brave team, they showed that last season in their play, they competed well in the Champions League as well. We have our weapons and we arrived here with the aim to make a good game.
"We know that these games are long. The bench helped to recover what happened in the first moments and then what happened, happened."
Simeone was shown a red card near the end of the game, and he was not happy with the home fans for antagonizing him from the stands.
"They insult you all game long behind the bench, and you can't respond because you're the manager," Simeone added.
"My reaction to the insult isn't justifiable, but it's not easy to endure being insulted for 90 minutes. Hopefully, Liverpool can improve, and when they find the person who did it, there will be consequences.
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"Insults all game long. And gestures too. I'm the one who has to stay calm, and I have to put up with the gestures, the insults, any situation."
Liverpool has trips to Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt next in the Champions League group phase. It will then host Real Madrid, Atletico's city rival, in its next home match.
Simeone's men have Frankfurt, Arsenal and then Union Saint-Gilloise, the Belgian outfit that has Alexis Mac Allister's brother Kevin playing at center-back. Last season, Atletico was eliminated by Real Madrid on penalties in the last-16.
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