Jorge Pulido fulfilled his dream of debuting with the first squad in an official match. The central defender acknowledged in the mixed zone that “I’m quite happy with my debut, even though we were unable to get the victory. Quique Sánchez Flores told me to stay calm. Now, I have to continue like this, humbly and with hard work, and then the gaffer will decide. At the beginning of the season I thought that my debut was a ways off, but then I saw other teammates making their debuts and that I was closer than I thought. The next step is to try and make a spot for myself here, but if I don’t play my place is with the B team and to try and help out the reserves.”

Regarding whether he had made any promises about his debut, Pulido highlighted that “I promised my jersey to my agent and friend. Who would have thought? Debuting with Atlético, my lifelong team, is a dream. Before, my idol was Fernando Torres and now I like Kun, Forlán and the whole team in general. Concerning my position, I paid close attention to Fernando Hierro, now to Piqué and I’ve really liked Godín, who has impressed me. I was able to make my debut alongside Juanito, a European champion with the national team, and playing at his side is pretty comforting.”

Joel Robles once again defended the ‘rojiblanco’ goal as a starting goalkeeper. “It was a calm match. We could have scored another goal or two, but it wasn’t meant to be and now we have to think about this Saturday’s match against Osasuna. Four of us from the reserve squad were able to play and we have to give thanks to the coach for having confidence in us. We have to keep working hard. Regarding the opponent we might have to face in the round of 16, I could care less. Concerning the sending off, we suffered a little bit from playing a man down, but we didn’t change too much because we were able to come back and equalise.”