Diego Simeone Praises 'Very Effective' Performance of Atletico Madrid Players in Win Over Las Palmas

Diego Simeone has praised the 'very effective' display of his Atletico Madrid players in Saturday's 5-1 win against Las Palmas.

Los Colchoneros secured their first victory of the new La Liga season in emphatic style, racing into a two-goal lead within minutes courtesy of goals from Angel Correa and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco.

Las Palmas' Jonathan Calleri pulled a goal back after the break, but a spectacular brace from Koke and a late Thomas Partey strike secured a comfortable win for the visitors.

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And Simeone revealed after the game that he was pleased by the attitude of his players, particularly in the early stages.

"To go 2-0 up in five minutes is not easy," the Argentine coach said, quoted by ESPN. "[Although] I always imagine the best, I will not lie. We were very committed from the start, went looking for the game.

"Las Palmas reacted well to that blow, but we saw how we could do them damage, taking advantage of the spaces which always open up at two goals ahead.

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"The players were very effective on the pitch and played very well as a team. They reacted well to the changes of system during the game, which speaks well of the players.

"They got back to 2-1, and could have been 4-2 with the penalty. The final result is 5-1, but there were different stages in the game. If we had not worked as we had, and run as we did, the result would have been different for sure."

Atletico next travel to Valencia in La Liga, before their first home game at the new Wanda Metropolitano against Malaga.