Real Madrid defender: Nobody expected Real Madrid would win Champions League
Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa says nobody was expecting that Real Madrid would win Champions League this season, but lauded team’s effort to prove everyone wrong.
“This is Real Madrid. There is no better example than the trophy we just lifted,” he said.
Real Madrid defender: Nobody expected Real Madrid would win Champions League
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“Four months ago, nobody can imagine it and here we are European champions for an 11th time and this is the Real Madrid, that’s why we are the best team of the world.”
Diego Simeone congratulated Real Madrid for winning the Champions league, and oppose the notion that Zidane’s men were the second best in the whole proceedings.
“First I want to congratulate Madrid — they were better than us again, this time in the penalty shootout,” Simeone said.
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“We began the game badly, got better after about 25 minutes. We had a chance to equalise quickly in second half, but we did not do take advantage of it. They had a chance for 2-0, but we equalised almost immediately afterwards. Then the game became very tactical, very draining, and the two teams were pretty tired.
“Today was not meant to be for us. There is no such thing as justice in football. Whoever wins deserves to win. There are no excuses.”
“I am proud of my players,” he said. “They made an extraordinary effort, in a very difficult Champions League for us. To go 1-0 down, miss a penalty, come back and equalise.
“I love these players a lot, they give the most they have in each ball — Gabi, Koke, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis, the effort they put in was tremendous. Griezmann came back after missing the penalty. I told them not to cry, out on the pitch after the game.”
“Nobody remembers the ones who finish second,” he said. “To lose two finals is a failure. It hurts more to see the fans who paid to come here, who travelled, who dreamed of us winning. We could not give them what they wanted. That hurts me more than anything else.
“We must now go home and tend to our wounds. It is too soon yet to talk about what went wrong for us tonight. It is a moment to think now, to reflect, and to spend time at home.