Diego Simeone was thrilled with his players despite Atletico Madrid's Champions League campaign again coming to an end at the hands of Real Madrid.

Atletico needed to overcome a 3-0 first-leg deficit and appeared on course for a stunning comeback after early goals from Saul and Antoine Griezmann.

But Isco's strike before half-time effectively ended the tie and a 4-2 aggregate success sent Real to a third final in four seasons.

Both of their previous finals ended in victories against Atletico, while they also knocked their city rivals out in the 2015 quarter-finals.

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Despite another setback in the last European game to be staged at the Vicente Calderon, the Atletico boss had nothing but praise for his players.

Simeone was quoted by Marca saying: "Those first 30 minutes will be in the history of the stadium and the people.

"It was an extraordinary game and there was great quality on show from so many players in our team.

"It's a shame we can't clone players like (Diego) Godin or Gabi, as they give their life to this club

"It was a Champions League semi-final against a great opponent and they made things difficult for us in their stadium, but our team demonstrated why we have been competing the way we have for so many years.

"We believed we could do it and we were close to winning the tie. We set the tie up well, but their goal hurt us a lot."

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insisted he was not downhearted by Atletico's superb start.

He told Real's website: "We knew we were going to suffer, especially at the beginning.

"They started the game very well but we didn't worry because we knew we were going to create chances.
"I'm happy to reach two consecutive finals. It means we are doing well.

"The players are doing phenomenally. They are the ones who run, fight, work, suffer and do their best to get things. We are all happy, but we have not won anything."

Zidane also praised Karim Benzema, who managed to dribble past three defenders near the touchline in the build-up to Isco's pivotal strike.

"I didn't know how Benzema managed to come out of the corner," Zidane said, according to Marca. "I honestly can't remember how many players he left behind.

"Football is not just about who gets the goals, look at what Benzema did. He has a lot of quality and offers more than just goals. He's a team player."

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