MADRID, Dec 2 — Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said they are still going in the right direction even after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to an understrength Bayern Munich side yesterday and made to wait to seal a place in the Champions League knockout stages.

A late Thomas Mueller penalty for the visitors cancelled out Joao Felix’s early opener and Atleti now face a showdown at RB Salzburg next week needing to avoid defeat to reach the last 16.

The Austrians, who earlier beat Lokomotiv Moscow 3-1 away, will qualify at Atletico’s expense if they win next week’s game.

Simeone’s side have won just one of their five matches in Group A and this was their third consecutive draw after two stalemates against Lokomotiv.

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“I leave here with the sensation the team is still doing the right things even though the Champions League is giving us a right headache,” the Argentine coach told a news conference.

“We deserved more from these three draws but we were not clinical enough. We played very well in the first half and got a lovely goal, we nearly got a second one but it didn’t arrive and Bayern are a strong team and earned the penalty.”

Simeone tried to look on the bright side after his side failed to hold out for a victory.

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“This is the way to go, that’s clear. We are working hard, the players are in good shape and I liked how calm we were on the ball,” he said.

“We are not being clinical in front of goal but we’re creating lots of chances, and I can tell our fans that we’re going to keep on doing that.” — Reuters