In one of the highlights of La Liga, Espanyol ended their winning streak with a 1-4 defeat against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium. After the match, Espanyol manager Manolo Gonzalez attended the press conference and gave an in-depth analysis of the match.
Gonzalez began by admitting that the result was exaggerated, noting that although Real Madrid was expected to have more possession, the team conceded too many goals and three of them could have been avoided. He emphasized that the mistakes made by the team after taking the lead led to the final defeat.
Talking about the positive aspects of the game, Gonzalez praised the team's fighting spirit and effort, stating that the team played a complete game for the majority of the match, especially in the 70 to 75 minute timeframe. However, he also admitted that the team made major mistakes at crucial moments, which was a major reason for the loss.
Gonzalez expressed his frustration at losing the points he could have gotten. He strongly believes that the team had a chance to get the points, but the end result was disappointing. He believes that the team did some good things during the game and knew how to withstand the pressure, but the way the game ended was unacceptable.
On the controversial issue of the penalty, Gonzalez made it clear that Endrick's fall with both feet outside the box was a clear miscarriage of justice. Although he was annoyed by the call, he chose not to dwell on it and instead accepted the referee's explanation.
Speaking about the mistakes made by the team, Gonzalez emphasized that in a stadium like the Bernabeu, any mistake will be punished severely. According to him, despite the team's excellent defense for most of the time, when they made mistakes, they paid a heavy price.
In addition, Gonzalez talked about the team's staffing and tactical adjustments. He explained why he replaced Chedira with Bayliss and the team's considerations in terms of defense. He mentioned that despite his poor performance against Valladolid, Paule Lozano was given the opportunity to play as he performed well in training over the past two weeks.
In the end, Gonzalez tried to look for the positives from the loss. He believes that despite the disappointing result, the team still showed fight and strength against a strong opponent. He encouraged the team to learn from this loss and prepare for future matches.
