Rostov coach Ivan Daniliants lauded the character shown by his team in their heart-breaking Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid.
Daniliants and Rostov left Madrid empty handed after suffering a last-gasp 2-1 Group D defeat in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.
Sardar Azmoun cancelled out Antoine Griezmann's opener to become the first player to score against the 2015-16 runners-up in this season's Champions League but just as the match was headed for a draw, Griezmann produced a clever finish deep into stoppage time to sink the Russian visitors.
The result left Rostov with just one point from four fixtures, but Daniliants still praised his courageous players.
"It was a tough game for my side. The opponents dominated possession, Atletico fight well, they are good tactically on the pitch. We saw that during the 90 minutes," Daniliants said.
"We started the game well against a difficult side, we saw their strengths in the home game, we know their qualities, they dominated a lot of the game.
"My boys showed a lot of character against such a strong opponent and we saw that the lads tired a bit towards the end but we were brilliant. We didn't commit a lot of errors, they fought against us and won. My side showed a lot of character tonight.
"I'm very happy with my side. Atletico scored two goals for our individual errors, they did not create a lot of chances. These games are a challenge for us, the boys need to keep on showing their character in the two games that we have coming up in the competition."
