The La Liga giants failed to hold on to a 1-0 lead against Chelsea in the final round of Group C fixtures on Tuesday as the Blues rallied to draw 1-1, leaving Atletico third in the group.
That means Simeone’s men will go into the Europa League at the last-32 stage, leading to claims their top players will depart the Wanda Metropolitano in order to challenge for the European Cup.
Asked if he was worried about players wanting to leave in January or the off-season, Simeone said: "No, on the contrary, I think this could be a new challenge. Everything that is bad, we make it into a positive.
"I wouldn't say it was a failure, because we knew this could happen. I think a failure is when you have an objective and you don't reach it, and we knew this could happen, so it is not a failure for us.
"I think the team has shown that we never give up, and we have a long season ahead, we will see what happens at the end of the season."