Simeone: 'We need 120 per cent because 100 won't be enough'

Asked whether defeats like this help keep their feet on the ground, Simeone acknowledged that Bayern and Arsenal are better than Atlético. To compete with them in the knockout ties at the end of the season, he said, they will have to give 120 per cent.

It was a tough night for Simeone and his team. The Atlético coach answered candidly. He believes they must work harder and keep working to close the gap and reach the big ties that come at the end of the season.

In the press conference, Nacho Donado asked Simeone why they struggled so much to play out of the German press, given that the pressure was arriving before Atleti's teammates could offer support: "We managed it well. Sorloth's presence helped us. We could go for a more direct game and win the second balls. It gave us a lot. The match went that way. We played it how we wanted, but then the first goal came and we didn't know how to react. With the second goal, the game was over," Simeone said.

Hugo Condés asked him how much is learned from matches like this, and Simeone was very direct in his conclusion: "We know that when we play against top opponents this can happen. Liverpool and Bayern are better than us, and we have to get closer to them. We need to reach 120 per cent because 100 won't be enough."

Simeone draws a distinction between a one-off match in the league phase and a two-legged knockout tie, in which anything can happen. Rubén Uría singles out this reflection as the most accurate of the night.