Diego Simeone
Atlético Madrid fell to a 1-0 home defeat against FC Barcelona on Sunday night, with Ousmane Dembélé netting the game’s only goal midway through the first half.
Here is the postgame reaction from Jan Oblak and Diego Simeone.
Oblak
On the slow start: “I don’t know why we came out with such little confidence. It doesn’t make sense. In the last few games, we have played well and it wasn’t the right moment to go into a game like we did. The first 25 minutes hurt us. We have good players and we know how to play, but it’s a mental problem. You have to start from the first second and not when they score the first goal.
“We did well aside from the first 25 minutes. We pressed well and we had chances, but we missed a bit of luck with scoring. I think, in general, we played well, and we could have scored, but the ball wouldn’t go in.”
Diego Simeone
On the defeat: “The reality is that we lost, but it’s true that the team did try to get a result that just didn’t come. Inside the two penalty areas remain what determines games. We leave with the feeling that we did more things well than we did poorly.”
On Pablo Barrios: “We knew that he wouldn’t be able to play like he did in other games but the investment in a footballer like Pablo will have positive consequences for the future. He has to learn how to play against better teams, and this game will serve him better than others. We look for what is best for the team and not just for the individual.”
Looking ahead: “The solution is to keep working, keep searching, get closer to what we were in the last 70 minutes. If you told me before the game that we would suffer for the first 20 minutes and then play really well for the last 70, I would have bought that from you.”
[Source: intothecalderon.com]