Diego Simeone acknowledged that he got his tactics wrong against Rostov but thanked his players for securing a 2-1 win to send Atletico Madrid through to the Champions League knockout stage.
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After a ponderous start in Madrid, Atletico took the lead thanks to a marvelous improvised effort from Antoine Griezmann in the 28th minute.
Sardar Azmoun hit back for Rostov soon after but Griezmann struck again deep into stoppage time to clinch a fourth straight Champions League triumph for Simeone's side.
"As the coach I made bad decisions," the coach told reporters. "I also had bad solutions at different times of the match and I'm hurt by that, very hurt. But fortunately the players knew how to solve the problems.
"Qualifying fills me with pride as an athlete, as a player and because the ways we compete with these players."
Griezmann's double ended a four-game run without a goal for Atletico since the 2-0 win at Valencia on Oct. 2 and Simeone was happy to see the end of the drought, though he was also quick to insist the Frenchman's contributions during that period had been more than satisfactory.
"Today Griezmann found the net and the team thanks him because we need his goals," he added. "But in recent games that Antoine did not score he was one of the most dangerous players we had."