Giuliano Simeone was the hero for Diego Simeone's side, scoring his second equaliser late in the game after Atlético had been reduced to 10 men.

The result leaves Villarreal coach Inigo Perez still waiting for his first win in charge after his team were held to the same scoreline in their opening match against newly promoted Racing Santander.

Atletico started brightly, with new signing Alejandro Grimaldo immediately testing Luiz Junior with a dipping effort. Villarreal also created chances, but both goalkeepers produced important saves to keep the game level at half-time.

Jan Oblak was particularly busy, denying Georges Mikautadze and Ayoze Perez as Villarreal threatened on the counter-attack.

The visitors continued to look dangerous after the break, with Oblak again forced into action to tip Nicolas Pepe's curling effort over the bar.

Atletico then took the lead against the run of play shortly before the hour mark. Marc Pubill exchanged passes with Giuliano Simeone before curling an excellent finish into the top corner.

However, Villarreal quickly turned the game around.

Morten Hjulmand brought down substitute Tajon Buchanan inside the area and Gerard Moreno converted the resulting penalty with his first touch.

The visitors were awarded another penalty soon afterwards when Mikautadze went down in the box. Robin Le Normand was sent off for the incident, leaving Atletico with 10 men.

Mikautadze took responsibility from the spot and sent Oblak the wrong way to put Villarreal 2-1 ahead.

Atletico refused to give up, though, and Julian Alvarez was introduced as Simeone looked for a way back into the game.

With the clock approaching 90 minutes, Alex Baena played Giuliano Simeone through and the forward finished across Junior to complete Atletico's fightback.

Villarreal almost snatched all three points in stoppage time, but Oblak denied Buchanan from close range.

Simeone was pleased with his team's response, particularly after going down to 10 men.

"The team reacted well down a man; we wanted to win with 10 players," the Atletico coach said.

He also praised the performances of Giuliano and Pubill, while admitting his players still have work to do physically.

"Giuliano's performance was incredible, as was Pubill's, and Grimaldo played the full 90 minutes," Simeone said.

The Atletico boss refused to focus on the two penalties, insisting the decisions were now part of the match.

"I'm not going to dwell on the penalties," he said. "They were penalties. I won't comment on that."

Instead, Simeone stressed the importance of unity as Atletico prepare for the rest of the season.

"I think I was pretty clear: we need to stick together," he said. "When we did that, we were able to compete for important titles."

Simeone also made clear that he wants more attacking options, particularly with Sorloth injured and Alvarez still building up his fitness.

"We need forwards. We have them, and we have to take care of them," he said.

The Argentine also accepted responsibility for using players such as Ademola Lookman away from their preferred positions.

"It’s my responsibility that Lookman isn't performing as well as he knows he can because he isn't a centre forward," Simeone said.

He added: "I'm certain that to win titles, you need forwards."

Despite the frustration of surrendering the lead and then playing with 10 men, Simeone believes Atletico have plenty to build on after taking four points from their opening two matches.

"I like the team we have, we all need to stick together, and if we keep it that way, God willing, we might win a title," he said.

Atletico will look to build on that start when they travel to face Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday.

Innocent Maela unfazed over facing Zakhele Lepasa at SuperSport United