Simeone: Atletico closer to objective after draw

Diego Simeone was able to find positives from Atletico Madrid's 2-2 draw at Levante on Sunday as his side edged closer to a top-three finish in La Liga.

The point - rescued by a late Fernando Torres header – moves Atletico four points clear of Valencia with two games remaining, although those matches are in doubt due to a potential strike over the distribution of television money.

While disappointed to not win, Simeone was pleased to extend Atletico's unbeaten league run to 13 games.

"I think it is a good result," he said. "We did all we could to try to win the game. 

"When a team plays well, it has chances to score and it comes back twice from a negative situation, it speaks highly of how competitive the team is.

"Luckily, the goal came that brought us closer to our objective, which was to win."

Simeone had particular praise for Torres, who came on to replace Mario Mandzukic and score his third Liga goal since returning to his boyhood club.

The Atletico coach added: "Entering as he did, whether it is in Villarreal or here today, because of his power, his speed, his freshness and, above all, when the opponent is tired, he plays much better."