Hector Bellerin was understandably downcast after we were knocked out in the Europa League semi-finals by Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
Afterwards he faced the media and discussed the performance and the hurt he is feeling. This is what he said:
on how he’s feeling…
We’re all disappointed and sad. It’s very hard for us to take. We knew the result that we had at home wouldn’t make the second leg an easy tie. Atletico haven’t conceded a goal at home for a while now. We knew it was going to be really hard but we never gave up. We all tried but it just wasn’t meant to be. Everyone is really, really sad for the boss. He’s had an amazing career and we wanted to try our best for him to finish on the top. That’s what makes it even more disappointing for us.
on whether that makes it hurt more…
Yeah, definitely. For me personally, he’s someone who gave me the chance to play. The way he’s been towards every single player in the dressing room, it’s something that we all appreciate. As I say, we played with heart and really tried but it wasn’t meant to be.
on whether it sums up our away form…
When you look at how Atletico are doing at home, when they’re playing teams like Barcelona and Madrid, it’s very hard to blame it on our away form. We know it hasn’t been good at all this year but they’re one of the strongest teams when they play on their pitch, in their stadium, in front of their crowd. We need to look at the bigger picture. We played well at some stages, especially at home, and when you don’t punish them you leave everything up for grabs away from home. It’s really disappointing to go out like that.
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