LEVERKUSEN, Germany - Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team for "perfectly executing" his game plan in its 4-2 Champions League victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and said the scoreline should have been even higher.

Atletico ripped the erratic Leverkusen defense to shreds with a string of lethal counter-attacks in the last-16 first leg in Germany.

"We could even have won by a higher margin but their goalkeeper (Bernd Leno) pulled off two outstanding saves to deny (Antoine) Griezmann," said Simeone.

"It is important to have belief when you play away from home, and I thought we had that in abundance.

"We thought before the game that, if we attacked down our left side, we would cause their right-footed defenders problems," he said.

"That is exactly what we did. Leverkusen fought their way back into the game in the second half but overall it is a very satisfying evening for us."

Atletico took a two-goal lead through Griezmann and Saul Niguez and replied each time the Bundesliga club cut the deficit.

Griezmann's goal was his 13th in the Champions League and made the France international the Spanish club's top scorer in the competition.

"For us it was an unusual game. We did it perfectly in the first half. We were intelligent and smart," Simeone said.

"They came back in the second half but we kept at our plan until the end."

Atletico also hit the woodwork and Leverkusen keeper Leno denied it twice in one-on-one situations to give the German side a sliver of hope for the return leg on March 15.

The victory puts Atletico, finalists in 2014 and 2016, on the brink of its ninth last-eight appearance while Leverkusen, which has never advanced past this stage, has its work cut out to reach the quarterfinals.

"The important thing is that we continue to improve," Simeone said. "It is important not to concede many goals at this stage of the tournament, so that's something we need to work on.

"Leverkusen has nothing to lose in the second leg, so we need to be careful," warned Simeone. "Even so, we can be very pleased."

Reuters