Following a very disappointing match against Sevilla in the Semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, Ronald Koeman, Pedri and Frenkie De Jong spoke with the press regarding their performance, the defeat, what comes next and much more.
This is what Ronald Koeman had to say:
Regarding the match:
“It is a harsh punishment. We could have been able to achieve a better result, we had opportunities, we played well, we fought and the end result was very bad. It did not reflect what we saw on the pitch.”
On the officiating:
“I think Alba’s action is a penalty. The referee in general was good, but I have my doubts on that play. Everyone, and not just people from Barça, told me that it was a penalty. I don’t know why the VAR did not intervene. They (Sevilla) committed a lot of fouls. They were smart, most of them deserved a yellow card and were in the center of the field. Sevilla have a great squad, they are very strong physically, they defend very well, but we were superior in the second half and that gives us hope.”
On Umtiti’s performance:
“We left too much space in the midfield on the first goal. In the second, we did not play correctly the offside and it was not a good decision. He made mistakes, like everyone. It’s not fair to go after him. The team was good. We all lose and we all win.”
On why he did not use more substitutions:
“I did not see reasons to make more changes, I did not see the team very tired in the second half, I saw the team just fine.”
Regarding their tight schedule:
“We have to analyze the game, but we do not have many days either because we have the Liga on Saturday and the Champions League on Tuesday. The calendar is very busy and we will try to regain strength.”
Pedri, the young Spanish midfielder, spoke regarding the match, this is what he had to say:
On what they did wrong:
“We started the game badly, they had superiority in the midfield and we could not counteract it. We took a loss, but we can still come back. There are 90 minutes left. The game will be long, we have time for a lot. The clearest example is the match against Granada.”
Regarding the possible penalty:
“I don’t know if he starts grabbing him outside or inside the area, but the VAR has decided that it was not a penalty. We have had bad luck.”
Finally, Frenkie de Jong, also had a few thing to say to the press following the match:
On the game:
“It was a difficult match for us, especially during the first half. In the second part we played better, we had our chances and we could have had a penalty.”
Regarding their chances of advancing to the final:
“We thought we were going to score, we have shown that we are very strong mentally speaking, we will see in the second leg, we believe we can reach the final.”
On their mentality for the second match:
“There are still many games left before the second leg, but in the second leg you can be sure that we will try to win to be in the final.”
