Atletico Madrid boss Quique Sanchez Flores praised his side's second-half display despite the UEFA Europa League champions having to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen last night.

Atletico looked like they would begin their title defence with a second consecutive defeat when they fell behind to Eren Derdiyok's opener just before half-time.

The hosts fought back in the second period, however, and Simao Sabrosa's 51st-minute equaliser from the penalty spot perhaps undervalued their dominance after the break. The result meant that Atletico are bottom of Group B after two games, although Sanchez Flores found reason for cheer.

The team has to take credit for turning the match around, finally we are left with a point and that point keeps us in the competition.
Quique Sanchez Flores, Atletico Madrid coach

"If you look at the last 45 minutes, the point appears too little, but in the first half we did not compete," he said. "The team has to take credit for turning the match around, finally we are left with a point and that point keeps us in the competition.

"Leverkusen were a team that were able to get behind the ball and they were very difficult to overcome with that mentality. But in the second half, we created spaces and we reached the byline. The game we wanted is what we played in the second half. If we want to be super competitive we cannot lack any details and we must improve in these situations."

Sanchez Flores said he would also take a cautious approach to Sergio Aguero's return from injury. The striker, who was not included in last night's squad, injured a leg against Atletico Bilbao three weeks ago before aggravating the problem when he tried to make an early return against Barcelona.

"Aguero has been out of action for around three weeks and he's only played 15 minutes in that time," he added. "We have already made a mistake once and we will not do it again. Even if the risk of further injury is minimal we will not test our luck again."