Diego Simeone admitted that Atletico Madrid were second best against Barcelona as the Catalans recorded a 2-1 La Liga win in the Spanish capital.
Fernando Torres handed Atletico the lead early in the second half, but Neymar quickly restored parity before substitute Lionel Messi decided the match in Barcelona's favour.
"I think Barcelona dominated every area of the game, whether defending or in possession. We didn't play a good game," Simeone was quoted as saying by AS.
"We started the second half well, but the quick equaliser put us off our stride again. Our idea was to try and pressure higher up the pitch, but Barcelona absolutely dominated the game.
"They are a team that put a lot of pressure on you in attack and if you can't counter that with attacks of your own it makes it very difficult.
"The way we started the second half was what we were trying to achieve but they equalised quickly and we lost control of the game."
Simeone also praised Messi, who started the match from the bench and came on around the hour mark.
"Messi was decisive when he was on the pitch. He's used to deciding matches and he did so again," he concluded.
