BERLIN. – Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team for perfectly executing his game plan in their 4-2 Champions League soccer victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night and said the scoreline should have been even higher.

Atletico ripped the Leverkusen defence to shreds with a string of lethal counter-attacks in the last-16 first leg, making the most of an erratic backline.

“We could even have won by a higher margin but their goalkeeper pulled off two outstanding saves to deny (Antoine) Griezmann,” said Simeone.

“It is important to have belief when you play away from home, and I thought we had that in abundance.

“We thought before the game that, if we attacked down our left side, we would cause their right-footed defenders problems,” he said.

“That is exactly what we did. Leverkusen fought their way back into the game in the second half but overall it is a very satisfying evening for us.”

Atletico took a two-goal lead through Griezmann and Saul Niguez and scored again each time the Bundesliga club battled back and cut the deficit.

Griezmann’s goal, his 13th in the Champions League also made the Frenchman his club’s top scorer in the competition.

“For us it was an unusual game. We did it perfectly in the first half. We were intelligent and smart,” Simeone said. “They came back in the second half but we kept at our plan until the end.”

The Spaniards also hit the woodwork and Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno denied them twice more in one-on-one situations to give the German side a sliver of hope for the return leg on March 15.

Atletico, finalists in 2014 and 2016, are now eyeing their ninth last-eight appearance while Leverkusen, who have never advanced past this stage, have their work cut out for next month.

“The important thing for us is that we continue to improve,” Simeone said. “It is important not to concede that many goals at this stage of the tournament, so that is something we need to work on.

“Leverkusen have nothing to lose in the second leg, so we need to be careful,” warned Simeone.

“Even so, we can be very pleased with our efforts this evening.”

Two lethal counter-attacks in the opening 25 minutes put the 2014 and 2016 finalists in the driving seat, with Niguez and Griezmann on target, and gave them the edge for a quarter-final spot for the ninth time.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game. We wanted to win, we did that and the return leg will be as difficult as tonight was,” said Griezmann.

“They pressured us and made life difficult but the boss’s changes helped us win the game tonight. We have a big game to play now in front of our own fans.”

Leverkusen, who paid the price for a disastrous defensive performance, cut the deficit before Atletico’s Kevin Gameiro scored with a spot kick and Stefan Savic’s own goal set up a nervous finale.

Substitute Fernando Torres ended any speculation with his goal in the 86th minute to take revenge for last season’s 1-0 loss as the Germans suffered their first home defeat in Europe after a 10-match unbeaten run.

“It is easy to see how Atletico have reached two finals in three years,” said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt. “We knew of their counter-attacking abilities before the game but we ended up shipping two goals in the first half.”

The Bundesliga club, finalists in 2002 before the introduction of the round of 16, are now at risk of missing out on the last eight for the fifth time, having never gone past this stage on their four previous attempts. – Reuters.

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