After a very close 2-1 win in the round of 16 in Copa del Rey, against Rayo Vallecano, Ronald Koeman, Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo spoke with the press, addressing their current form, the tight schedule and much more.
This is what Koeman had to say:
On the game:
“We played well and played our game despite the opponent. We have created clear opportunities. After being 1-0 down, we reacted well and won the game with quality. We could have scored more but we made it through and that’s the important thing. I’m happy with the mentality of the team.”
Regarding De Jong:
“He is a very complete player, but he needed to do more things in attack. Not only is he scoring goals, but he’s doing a great job. He plays with the same intensity from the first minute till the ninety. He is in a great moment of his game and arrives very well in oppositions area.”
On their last few games:
“It has been a very tough month, with many trips and many away games. We have shown mentality and we deserved to win. We have to follow game by game.”
Regarding Riqui Puig and Trincao:
“They played a good game. Trincao has created danger and Riqui has played well between the lines where there were a lot of people but he has worked hard. And the changes were to give freshness.”
On his yellow card:
“They gave me a card for saying it was a foul, if they take a card for a foul, what are we doing? The referee has decided that it was not a penalty and there was VAR, so it must be that it wasn’t and we must accept it.”
Frenkie De Jong has been one of the most important players for the Blaugranas in the last games and today was not an exception. This is what the Dutch midfielder had to say:
On his attacking:
“I’m arriving a little more into the opponents area and that’s why I can score a little more than before. It is still too early to say that I have adapted this aspect into my game style.”
On the win:
“We are very happy with the victory. We have to continue like this. It is very important for us to pass to the next round, we want to fight for this title. We have created enough opportunities to score. We played well on a field that was very slippery and it was an important victory”
Regarding their level:
“We are in a good moment. We are growing every week and every game and we have to continue in this line.”
In the defense, Ronald Araujo has emerged as a very important figure for Barcelona. The Uruguayan center-back also spoke with the press and said the following after their victory:
On the match:
“It was a difficult game, we should have closed the match earlier, but the important thing was to go through to the next round and we are happy about that.”
Regarding their comeback:
“They placed their defense higher and higher up the pitch and we took advantage of that. Luckily we won and we are in the next round, which was the objective. We want to fight for Copa del Rey, which is important to us.”
On their current winning streak:
“It was an obligation to win away from home, we needed it, we had suffered before when playing away. We knew that working hard the victories would also come to us. Now we need for the winning streak to continue and add more points.”
