Despite claiming one point from their opening two matches against AS Roma and Chelsea, Simeone's Atletico -- finalists in two of the last four seasons -- were expected to make light work of unfancied Qarabag, who picked up their first Champions League point.
Yet the Spanish side lacked a clinical edge, with Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann missing good chances in the first half before the Frenchman had an effort disallowed for offside after the break.
Azeri side Qarabag looked dangerous on the counter-attack but their late push for an unlikely winner was all but ended when Dino Ndlovu was dismissed having received a second yellow card for a dive in the 75th minute.
"I believe in these players and we're capable of changing the group situation around," Simeone told reporters. "I'm feeling good and the side too.
"We need to improve our finishing. Draws happen. We didn't lose but we couldn't score despite playing well. We didn't keep a cool head when we had our chances and they defended well. We couldn't win but we had enough chances to do so."
Chelsea lead Group C with six points and host second-place AS Roma, on four points, later on Wednesday. Atletico are two points adrift in third and can ill-afford to lose any more ground on the top two sides.
"We've still got three games to qualify and we'll fight to the end," forward Griezmann added.
(Reporting by Tom Hayward; Editing by Toby Davis)
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