"I know what these Barcelona players are capable of; they play brilliantly. Today, Pedri and Raphinha returned, and they are different, they play at a different pace, and they had a good first half. Although it hurts that the goals came from lapses in concentration on set pieces rather than from open play."
"We're Atletico, we're destined to suffer, to always push ourselves to the limit, but I don't know what it will bring us, but believe me, the journey is fantastic. When you play against teams like Barcelona, you know you're destined to suffer if you don't attack."
"Pedri, Bernal and everyone else made a tremendous effort. It was difficult to maintain that intensity; the substitutions helped. Gimenez's introduction gave us maturity, and maturity is needed within the team."
Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 3-0 in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal through goals from Marc Bernal (twice) and a Raphinha penalty. However, this victory proved insufficient to overcome the four-goal deficit from the first leg, resulting in a 4-3 aggregate loss. Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone praised Barcelona's returning players Pedri and Raphinha, noting their impact on the team's performance and intensity. Simeone acknowledged Barcelona's quality and attacking prowess, while expressing frustration that Atletico conceded from set-piece lapses rather than open play. He reflected on the difficulty of maintaining intensity against elite opponents and the importance of tactical adjustments throughout the match.
Read at Barca Universal
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