The Atlético players are confident they can come back at the Vicente Calderón
Diego Forlán: 'Anything can happen in the world of football”
The feelings in the ‘rojiblanco’ clubhouse after the match were of anger and impotence, although the players appeared confident of their chances in the return leg at the Vicente Calderón. Perea admitted that “they score off of just a few chances, and also when they create many. What angers us the most is the third goal. Before that goal, the qualifying tie was within reach, and now it’s more complicated. The goal was off a rebound on which they were lucky and favoured them.”
The Atlético de Madrid defender continued to speak about the match and said that “you can’t lose your focus for even a second against these guys, as you get what happened to us. Anything is possible for the return leg. Right now we can’t be thinking about the Cup. We have to focus on playing in La Liga. With our players and in our stadium, coming back is possible. We gave to leave it all on the pitch for our supporters. We’ll give absolutely everything we have to win the match; we’ll give our lives.”
Diego Forlán was the author of the goal for Atlético de Madrid and even had a chance to tally a second, but his shot went off the post. “The loss is quite upsetting; the same thing always happens to us. We start out winning and then they come back; another game that got away from us. A 2-1 loss would have been a good result, but the last goal has really complicated things. It hurts a lot, as now we have to score two goals and it’s not going to be easy, but anything can happen in football,” he stated.
David De Gea was once again one of the best players on his team with several fine saves which kept Real Madrid from earning a bigger win. With a bandaged hand after a collision with Ronaldo, he appeared before the media and assured that “we have a nice week ahead of us with the fixtures against Mallorca and Real Madrid. I want to be at 100% to be able to help the squad. Playing in this stadium is nice, but the last goal really hurt us. We can fight back in the return leg with the support of the fans. We’ve shown that we’re a team and we’ll surely be up for it at the Vicente Calderón. It’s normal for them to create lots of scoring chances against you, but we had our opportunities to have won the game. The last goal was bad luck, but we have hopes. Real Madrid forces you to sit back in your half, but I’m stuck on the luck they had on the last goal. We’ll have to try to score the first goal early to come back.”
Juanfran was the surprise starter for Quique Sánchez. He made his debut with the ‘rojiblancos’ and did so against the team where he was developed. “It was a pity. We worked very hard and gave our all. We had a chance to take the lead when it was even at one. Forlán shot off the post; the game would have gone quite differently. They scored their goal on the next attack. Nonetheless, the qualifying round is still open. I was prepared for anything, though getting the start was a surprise. I feel great and I thank the coach for his support. Now I have to adapt to the form of playing with my teammates. The tie is open and we’re going to put plenty of pressure on them in our house with our fans. Nobody should give up on this round. We worked really hard, and everyone could see that. We can fight back and win this qualifying tie.”
The Atlético de Madrid defender continued to speak about the match and said that “you can’t lose your focus for even a second against these guys, as you get what happened to us. Anything is possible for the return leg. Right now we can’t be thinking about the Cup. We have to focus on playing in La Liga. With our players and in our stadium, coming back is possible. We gave to leave it all on the pitch for our supporters. We’ll give absolutely everything we have to win the match; we’ll give our lives.”
Diego Forlán was the author of the goal for Atlético de Madrid and even had a chance to tally a second, but his shot went off the post. “The loss is quite upsetting; the same thing always happens to us. We start out winning and then they come back; another game that got away from us. A 2-1 loss would have been a good result, but the last goal has really complicated things. It hurts a lot, as now we have to score two goals and it’s not going to be easy, but anything can happen in football,” he stated.
David De Gea was once again one of the best players on his team with several fine saves which kept Real Madrid from earning a bigger win. With a bandaged hand after a collision with Ronaldo, he appeared before the media and assured that “we have a nice week ahead of us with the fixtures against Mallorca and Real Madrid. I want to be at 100% to be able to help the squad. Playing in this stadium is nice, but the last goal really hurt us. We can fight back in the return leg with the support of the fans. We’ve shown that we’re a team and we’ll surely be up for it at the Vicente Calderón. It’s normal for them to create lots of scoring chances against you, but we had our opportunities to have won the game. The last goal was bad luck, but we have hopes. Real Madrid forces you to sit back in your half, but I’m stuck on the luck they had on the last goal. We’ll have to try to score the first goal early to come back.”
Juanfran was the surprise starter for Quique Sánchez. He made his debut with the ‘rojiblancos’ and did so against the team where he was developed. “It was a pity. We worked very hard and gave our all. We had a chance to take the lead when it was even at one. Forlán shot off the post; the game would have gone quite differently. They scored their goal on the next attack. Nonetheless, the qualifying round is still open. I was prepared for anything, though getting the start was a surprise. I feel great and I thank the coach for his support. Now I have to adapt to the form of playing with my teammates. The tie is open and we’re going to put plenty of pressure on them in our house with our fans. Nobody should give up on this round. We worked really hard, and everyone could see that. We can fight back and win this qualifying tie.”
