Mandzukic was at the heart of most of the talking points after receiving an elbow from Sergio Ramos and a punch from Dani Carvajal, while also planting an elbow of his own on Madrid defender Raphael Varane.
Atletico midfielder Mario Suarez felt Croatia international Mandzukic, who received treatment for a gash near his eye, had not received the protection he deserved from Serbian referee Milorad Mazic but Simeone was in a charitable mood afterwards.
After insisting he had not seen the incident with Carvajal, he said: "Mario had a tough game and a very nice fight against Ramos and Varane. He played a great match, he fought a lot."
Simeone was particularly impressed with the way his side edged the second half after being on the back foot for much of the first.
He added: "The tie is still open. In the first half our opponent played better but [goalkeeper Jan] Oblak was great. Best of all was our reaction. After a bad first half, other teams may have given up, but not us. We changed our style and, as a result, Oblak had less to do.
"I think it will be a different match at the Bernabeu, more of a classic game all of us like to play. A match with the beautiful things in football: fear, responsibility, stress… what makes you fall in love with this sport."
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