SAÚL: "WE HAVE TO BE MORE UNITED THAN EVER"

Saúl Ñíguez, Lucíen Agoumé and José Ángel Carmona all spoke following Friday night's defeat at Deportivo Alavés. On what happened at Mendizorroza, Saúl admitted that "we weren't surprised by the way things went because they play very tactical football. The first goal was our mistake and we paid dearly for it, so we have to minimise those mistakes. It wasn't us who didn't understand what the game demanded." In this sense, he pointed out that ‘any mistake we make led to a goal, which of course weakened us. It's true that we had a good reaction after Dodi's goal, but in the end we have to continue, be self-critical individually and then collectively." The midfielder - who finished the game wearing the captain's armband - also sent a message to the fans: "The good thing about football is that it quickly gives you a chance to redeem yourself. We can't ask anything of our fans, we just have to show them somethin on the pitch, so it's up to us to recover as quickly as possible physically and mentally. We do a lot of things well, but one little mistake can lead to a goal, which means we have to be more united than ever."

Agoumé was similarly self-critical: ‘We have to be united and prepare in the best way possible for Tuesday's game in order to win at home. That's the most important thing now. We'll assess what we did wrong today to continue working and improving... we started the game badly, but in the second half we did everything we could to secure a good result. It wasn't a great day for us, but from tomorrow we'll start working on the next match."

Finally, Carmona expressed his disappointment and made some reflection: "The problem was us. We came out asleep today and in the second half, when we tried to wake up, it was too late. We started the game under pressure and in the second half, at 2-0 down, we went all out because we had nothing to lose. We have to learn to enjoy the games and not live with that pressure. Isaac is a little bit tired and we'll see what's wrong with him on Tuesday. My message to the fans is that football gives you opportunities for redemption, and on Tuesday comes another chance, and I'm confident that results will soon come."

Para cerrar el turno de protagonistas, Carmona también se mostró contrariado y con un mensaje de autocrítica: "El problema hemos sido nosotros, que hoy hemos salido dormidos y en la segunda, cuando intentamos levantarnos, ya es tarde. Empezamos el partido como presionados y en la segunda, con el 2-0 nos soltamos porque no teníamos nada que perder. Tenemos que aprender a disfrutar de los partidos y no vivir con esa presión. Isaac está fastidiado y veremos lo que tiene, el martes. A la afición le digo que el fútbol te da revancha y el martes te da una oportunidad nueva, seguro que llegarán los resultados".