Thoughts on the game
“We’re sad in the end because the way we set up to play worked well in the first half. We were able to contain them and hit them on the break from time to time. At times we were even able to keep possession and get higher up the pitch, close to their goal. We had a couple of clear chances to score – they had a few too – but we couldn’t convert them. Then in the second half, they stepped things up a bit and started taking more risks. Fede (Valverde) drove them forward when he came on and gave them a greater threat from midfield. And then their goal came from a moment of brilliance from Marco Asensio, it was a strike that’s characteristic of him. After that, we weren’t able to threaten their goal.”
New signings
“The new signings did well. They all played in the end and are happy with what they’ll be able to bring to the team. They’ll add competition for places and that means I’ve got plenty of options at my disposal. Let’s hope they can keep settling in well and can help us pick up more points so that we can achieve our objective.”
Luis Maximiano
“Luis showed us throughout the first half of the season that he’s capable of making decisive saves and he did it again today. In the end, they’ve also got a great goalkeeper who made two big saves in the first half too. Doing your bit for the team is what it’s all about and that’s what Luis did.”
Current form
“Today the team played the way we all know it’s capable of and maybe we didn’t do that in the last couple of games, especially against Getafe rather than Osasuna. Ultimately, we’ve had three defeats in a row but we’re going to try to turn our form around in San Sebastián in what will be a difficult game. But I always say that with these players and the attitude that they have, I think we’re going to achieve what we set out to do, hopefully as soon as possible so that we don’t have to suffer too much. We believe in the work that we’re doing.”
Substitutions
“We made the substitutions because it’s not easy to defend in the Bernabéu for 90 minutes with the levels of intensity and concentration that we had to show, as well as the tactical demands. Especially for the attackers and wide players, who also had to get forward to create chances. We thought Jorge (Molina) might help us keep the ball better when we won it back, Luis (Suárez) had been away with his national team and came back feeling tired, even though he played for half an hour. He’d only trained with us for a day. And the others looked really tired too.”
“We had several players warming up – Matías (Arezo), Domi (Duarte) and Victor (Díaz). If we’d scored, maybe we would’ve sent on another central defender. And if they scored, our plan was to do what we did with Milla, Petrović and Gonalons in a midfield three because of the numerical superiority they were having in there in certain passages of play. It gave us more opportunities to attack but in the end, maybe we didn’t manage to create any clear chances. We got close to their goal a few times but our play in the final third wasn’t fluid enough in terms of our crossing or final ball. But it’s understandable, the players were tired from defending for so long and on top of that I think Real Madrid kept their levels of intensity up quite well because they knew that we were capable of scoring at any moment. It’s not what we wanted but we did what we could.”
What swung things in Real Madrid’s favour?
“I think starting Marco Asensio. Valverde coming on helped them to press better and break into the box from midfield more. They were doing it in the first half with Modric, Isco and Kroos but I think Kross playing at the base of midfield allowed them to dictate play better and with the talent that Hazard and the others have, those coming off the bench…Losing only 1-0 in the Bernabéu is almost something to be proud of.”
Best wishes
“We all want to send our best wishes to Nerea (Agüero), who plays for our women’s team. She had an operation on her cruciate ligament this week and will miss the rest of the season.”
“We also send our best wishes to Pepe Sánchez and his family after the death of his grandmother.”