Diego Simeone has praised his Atletico Madrid players for digging deep to salvage a 2-2 draw from their La Liga opener against Girona at the Estadi Montilivi.
The Rojiblancos were heading for a shock defeat in Catalonia after Christian Stuani netted two quick-fire goals in the first half for the newly-promoted club.
Atletico's hopes of rescuing a point from the game were not helped by a red card shown to Antoine Griezmann 68 minutes in, but Simeone's men plugged away and were rewarded through goals from Angel Correa and Jose Gimenez in the final quarter of the contest.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Simeone said: "At 2-0 down many people thought the game was over, even more so with 10 players. But we never give up.
"We got a result which looked impossible. Nobody gives you anything here. Newly-promoted teams always make it very uncomfortable."
Atletico are back in action next weekend with a trip to Las Palmas, as work on their new Wanda Metropolitano home continues.
Daniel Lewis
