MENDILIBAR: "WE MORE THAN MATCHED GIRONA, BUT LACKED THAT CLINICAL EDGE"

José Luis Mendilibar was frustrated following tonight's defeat to Girona FC: "In the end I thought we played well and created opportunities. We matched if not beat the opposition in most areas of the pitch, but we lacked that clinical edge and that cost us hugely. We made lots of effort, put in several crosses and pretty much played how we wanted to, but we struggled to score."

On refereeing decisions, the manager was clear: "He blows the whistle even before calling the corner, then he changes his mind after studying the images. There are some things I will never understand. VAR is there to help, but I don't understand how he blew so quickly then completely disregards it. Then the offside is by a hair's breadth. We were unlucky and that meant we lost the game."

He said there is no choice but to lift our heads up: "When you lose, the week is ruined. Today's was our best match of the season so far, yet we leave angry for very little reason, but at least we showed improvement, especially in the opposition's half. We played well against a good team, even though we couldn't win or draw."