Football
ESPN staff 8y

Atletico's Diego Simeone happy with Barca point, praises Thomas Partey

Diego Simeone was pleased with Atletico Madrid's second-half comeback that saw them hold Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

Ivan Rakitic gave the home team the lead in the 41st minute before Angel Correa leveled proceedings shortly after the hour mark.

The draw put Atletico in fourth place behind Barcelona, while league leaders Real Madrid needed a Sergio Ramos equaliser against Villarreal to keep their unbeaten run going.

"For us, it is always difficult to draw anything positive from Camp Nou," said Simeone.

"In the first half, we defended well, but we could not counter-attack. The goal in the second half made us react.

"In the second half we are much more dangerous. After the draw, we waited for our opportunity with the players that we had to play the spaces."

The Argentine coach was also quick to heap praise on midfielder Thomas Partey, who came on in the 73rd minute for Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.

"He gave us power in the midfield to counter better in the last few minutes with [Fernando] Torres, [Antoine] Griezmann and Correa."

Barca had 71 percent of the possession but failed to deliver the knockout blow as Atletico held on to secure a valuable point.

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