The Argentine manager revealed that he is happy with Los Parakeets performance despite suffering a 3-1 La Liga defeat at the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vicente-c36001 Calderon.
Espanyol’s UEFA Champions League dreams suffered a major setback as they lost in their latest Primera Division outing against a direct rival for European berth.
In-form winger, Arda Turan, was on song as he scored two goals in three minutes to ensure Atletico Madrid add three points against their name in La Liga points table.
Reflecting on the match, Espanyol manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mauricio-c24899 Pochettino, claimed that they suffered the ignominy of league defeat as Los Rojiblancos scored in a key phase of the match.
He added that Atletico profited from the individual brilliance of their players as they scored two goals in quick succession to seal the fate of the match at the Vicente Calderon.
Despite the defeat, the Argentine tactician claimed that he cannot blame his players for the loss as they gave a good account of their abilities against a tough opposition.
The retired centre-back highlighted the enthusiasm of Espanyol players after they went down in the first ten minutes and did their best to come back to level terms.
“After the first goal by Atletico at eight or nine minutes of the first part, the team reacted and was very good with 30 or 35 minutes. Really good. The equalizing goal was justice.”
“The second half followed the same trend until 58 to 60 completely changed the game. There, Atletico demonstrated their individual quality and made the 3-1."
"You cannot blame the team for anything. We leave the field with the sadness of losing, but above all we gave everything. In football, the details are crucial."
Pochettino admitted that his players were at fault, taking the minute details of the fixture into account. However, he believes that there is no use of ruing on their mistakes and they will have to rectify them in their coming matches.
Espanyol currently enjoy 10th place in La Liga rankings table, but still remain in touching distance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
The Catalan club are seven points adrift of 4th-placed Malaga, and need to get maximum points from their remaining four matches to have a shot at playing in the next edition of the elite European club competition.
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