The ‘rojiblanco’ players leave hurt by the mistakes made
The squad saw the clear penalty committed by Xabi Alonso
The Atlético de Madrid players left the Santiago Bernabéu with a bitter taste. The loss to Real Madrid hurt Quique Sánchez Flores lads, who acknowledged that their opponent’s goals came off mistakes that they had made. Reyes said that “their goals came off of our own mistakes. The first was a tough blow, but the second was devastating. We had a hard time recovering, but little-by-little we got back into the match and we had chances to score a goal or two. On the first goal someone stuck out their foot and I fell. Later came the penalty by Xabi Alonso on a clear hand ball. It could have been a penalty and sending off. The game would have been different.”
The midfielder from Seville prefers to forget about the match as quickly as possible and stated that “our goal isn’t winning La Liga, it’s qualifying for the Champions League. We have to try and pick our heads up as quickly as we can and earn as many points as possible to be near the top.”
For his part, Diego Forlán, also admitted the team’s mistakes, and gave his opinion that “in spite of the errors on their goals, we stood up to them and gave a good image. Perhaps everything would have been different if one of the chances we had had gone in. Concerning Xabi’s penalty, the referee told us that it was the natural position of his hands. But we can’t focus on the officiating; we have to turn the page and focus on the play. We have to try and develop our play and try to earn as many points as possible. We’ve lost matches that we didn’t deserve to lose, but we have to keep working to earn points.”
Álvaro Domínguez analysed the referee’s performance and explained that “it was a clear hand ball and Alonso should have been sent off. I don’t know the reasons why he didn’t call it. I shot and the subsequent rebound fell to Kun, who struck the ball and Alonso touched it with his hand. We came to win and we’re leaving disappointed; we wanted a different result. Two details from Real Madrid changed the way the game played out. We played a good match, but we feel bitter. You end up paying when you make those mistakes against a great team.”
To finish, Mario Suárez explained that “you can’t give them anything, as in the end they take advantage of it. I won at the Santiago Bernabéu with Mallorca and I wanted to do the same with Atlético de Madrid. We conceded the first goal early and then came their second. It was a tough blow. We had a tough time accepting it, but little-by-little we were able to and even had our chances. We had been on a negative run here and we were unable to break it. The only thing left is for us to get some vengeance in our stadium in the second half of league play.”
The midfielder from Seville prefers to forget about the match as quickly as possible and stated that “our goal isn’t winning La Liga, it’s qualifying for the Champions League. We have to try and pick our heads up as quickly as we can and earn as many points as possible to be near the top.”
For his part, Diego Forlán, also admitted the team’s mistakes, and gave his opinion that “in spite of the errors on their goals, we stood up to them and gave a good image. Perhaps everything would have been different if one of the chances we had had gone in. Concerning Xabi’s penalty, the referee told us that it was the natural position of his hands. But we can’t focus on the officiating; we have to turn the page and focus on the play. We have to try and develop our play and try to earn as many points as possible. We’ve lost matches that we didn’t deserve to lose, but we have to keep working to earn points.”
Álvaro Domínguez analysed the referee’s performance and explained that “it was a clear hand ball and Alonso should have been sent off. I don’t know the reasons why he didn’t call it. I shot and the subsequent rebound fell to Kun, who struck the ball and Alonso touched it with his hand. We came to win and we’re leaving disappointed; we wanted a different result. Two details from Real Madrid changed the way the game played out. We played a good match, but we feel bitter. You end up paying when you make those mistakes against a great team.”
To finish, Mario Suárez explained that “you can’t give them anything, as in the end they take advantage of it. I won at the Santiago Bernabéu with Mallorca and I wanted to do the same with Atlético de Madrid. We conceded the first goal early and then came their second. It was a tough blow. We had a tough time accepting it, but little-by-little we were able to and even had our chances. We had been on a negative run here and we were unable to break it. The only thing left is for us to get some vengeance in our stadium in the second half of league play.”