Atletico Madrid fell to a 2-1 defeat at Anfield in their Champions League opener, with Liverpool overturning Marcos Llorente's early strike to claim victory. Speaking to Movistar in the dressing rooms afterwards, captain Koke said his side had competed well without finding the breakthrough they needed.
"We played a complete match. After the break they scored the second goal and it cost us. It's a team that presses a lot. We tried to give it tempo and we couldn't equalise," he said.
Koke insisted there was no reason to panic given how much of the competition remains.
"The Champions League is very long, but we want to win matches," he said. Asked about Julián Álvarez, he called for the striker to be given space after a demanding few months.
"We're very tired. The lad needs to be left alone, let him enjoy it, let him play. Between all of you, you need to leave him in peace a little because you've had a very tiring summer," he said.
Simeone was more expansive in his own press conference, acknowledging his side's familiar problem of failing to sustain good first-half performances.
"It seems like you're not doing well physically when you don't maintain in the second half what you did in the first. But sometimes you just play badly. All the effort becomes an anecdote. We played a good first half in Bilbao, at Anfield, but what counts are the results. Two goals conceded today, three in Bilbao, one in Seville, two against Villarreal. We have to work, a lot — we are under construction, even if that doesn't please whoever wants to hear it, but the team is under construction," he said.
Simeone praised both Cristian Romero and Álvarez individually.
"Cuti's match pleased me, correct, strong, with authority, able to resolve individual situations. Julián also had a good match. He took charge of the ball the whole time, from minute one to 90. That makes me happy," he said, revealing a short conversation had persuaded him to start the Argentine.
"I got up in the morning, spoke with him for a while, saw he was doing very well, and luckily I chose for him to play because he had the kind of match I expected."
On his changes out wide, Simeone admitted the team lacked clear-cut chances after falling behind.
"The changes started to appear when we were losing, looking for other things. We didn't have goal chances, very few, in the second half. The details put you up, in the middle or down — we need to adjust things because many of the goals we concede are our own responsibility," he said.
Despite the defeat, he insisted his players had given everything.
"The team played the match it needed to play. We need to interpret better the moments when we have to keep playing one way or another. That's why we conceded the two goals. But the team gave everything, and we have to accept the details that stop us valuing all the good that was done. The defeat cancels out that positive part."