Scorer of the only goal of the fixture, Saúl Ñíguez came out as one of the major players in Atlético’s victory and defined his action like this: "I was carrying, I had dribbled two rivals, and when I was in the box I had already thought of placing it to finish with my good leg and shoot on goal. It is my most important goal and it may be the most beautiful," the midfielder said. 

A footballer, Saúl, for whom his teammate Koke spared no praise: "What he’s doing this year is amazing and all the good things that are happening to him make us all happy. We have congratulated him because he has scored an incredible goal. He is an important player for us, he is doing things very well."

For his part, Fernando Torres said to the microphones of BeIN Sports: "It’s been a fantastic night, a great day for the Atléticos. We've played the first part of the knockout round and we have a favourable result," the striker said.

A pleased Antoine Griezmann said: "We wanted to win without conceding a goal and we succeeded," and he added: "Everyone defended and everyone attacked. This demonstrates our strength and our mentality."

On the same line, José María Giménez commented: "The coach had told us how to defend their attack in the strategic plays and, from that point of view, I think that we played a near-perfect match."

Meanwhile, Filipe Luis didn’t hesitate when he assured: "It’s been one of the most difficult matches I've played in my life."