Muniain: “We must hold our head high”
Muniain: “We must hold our head high”
Athletic’s number 10 recognises the value of a well-played game as they are “keeping up a good pace”, having now the upcoming clash against Sevilla in view: “Each point is precious”
Athletic Club’s captain Iker Muniain has shown his disappointment about the final result, which has not rewarded the effort put in by his team against Real Madrid. “I think we deserved something more, like drawing at least”, Athletic’s number 10 pointed out. “We managed the game well and our defence was solid, we kept up the pace we have gathered so far, especially in our previous game in Valencia. We had more clear chances in the first half and it’s true that in the second we lacked some depth to score a goal. In any case, we must hold our head high, this cannot undermine us”.
As for the two controversial plays of the game -the penalty awarded to Marcelo by VAR and the penalty foul over Raúl García that was not signalled-, Muniain has said the following: “I didn’t see the replay, but on the pitch I had the feeling it was not clear enough to be awarded. Dani was in the position to keep running with the ball, but VAR decided that the contact should be signalled. A few minutes later, however, a stamp on Raúl at Madrid’s penalty box was not even checked. I’m really satisfied with the job our team has done and now we must think about Thursday’s match, which is just round the corner. Each point we can get in this fight for the last European spots that we are in is precious”.
Iñigo Martínez: “We’ll fight until the end to achieve our goal”
Iñigo Martínez was also sorry for having missed a chance in the dying minutes of the game: “It was a pity they scored, because we were positive about our chances to scratch a point. Keeping a clean sheet with teams like Madrid is really difficult, it wears you off. We were unable to convert any of our chances in the first half and in the second one we were a little tired after all the effort, but the job made by the team was very good”.
Despite all of this, the red-and-white midfielder has shown his optimism with regard to their fight for a European spot: “There are still some matches to go, with plenty of points at stake. Reaching our goal is on our hands and we’ll fight for it until the end”.