Atletico Madrid players bemoan losing early goals to Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid stars Jose Antonio Reyes and Diego Forlan said that there was no way back for their side after they conceded early goals in a 2-0 loss at the hands of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
The city rivals met at the Bernabeu on Sunday, 7 November, where former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho put the home side ahead after just 13 minutes when he coolly slotted the ball beyond Atletico keeper David de Gea.
2010 FIFA World Cup star Mesut Ozil then doubled the advantage six minutes later when he struck a free-kick from the right-hand side of the box into the bottom-left corner.
Though Atletico woke up after Ozil’s goal and began to get back into the game, the UEFA Europa League holders could not find a way past Iker Casillas and were condemned to their fourth defeat of the season.
The loss means that Atletico now stand 12 points behind Madrid in the league standings, and Reyes was left to rue such a slow start to the game.
He told reporters, "We have struggled because of the two goals coming so early in the match. We tried to finish our chances. It is a game that is gone, and we must remember that the Champions League is our aim."
Forlan, who won the Golden Ball award for the best player of the World Cup in South Africa, has not enjoyed the best of starts to this season, having netted just three goals in 10 games.
He was also disappointed that his side had to try and haul themselves back into the game after two costly defensive mistakes.
"Two very quick goals, and two errors from us, and the game was even at the time. We had a couple of chances after that, but we could not achieve a goal and unfortunately the game ended that way.
"We knew we had to go at them right from the first whistle, and in front of goal we have had a couple of situations to score, particularly in the first half. If we had scored one, we would have been in the game."
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