Atletico stuttered to a 2-1 win over Rostov in the Champions League and Diego Simeone was grateful for his players for bailing him out.
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.
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.