FC Barcelona star Raphinha took the blame for his team’s devastating loss to Atletico Madrid in … [+]
FC Barcelona star Raphinha took the blame for his team’s devastating 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid in Montjuic on Saturday.
The two teams went into the top of the table clash even on points. Yet while Barca had suffered back-to-back home defeats to Leganes and Las Palmas, Atleti had won 11 straight regardless of the stadium and also boasted a game in hand.
Barca took the lead through Pedri, yet succumbed to two second half strikes from Rodrigo de Paul and Alexander Sorloth amid Barca’s number 8 and Raphinha being unable to put key chances away.
Post-match, however, with Barca having blown a six point lead at the summit earned against Real Madrid in El Clasico, and now facing the realistic possibility of falling as many as six behind themselves, Raphinha didn’t shy away from owing up to his errors.
“I think we played very well … I have the habit of saying that we don’t control the result but we do control the delivery on the field. I think we played very well today,” he first said to the club’s official channels.
“I, particularly, accept this defeat today. In the end, I missed a [chance to score a] goal and I think about five minutes later they got the equalizer and then I missed a pass that led to their second goal. I put all of the responsibility of today’s defeat on myself. Life is like that,” the Brazilian added.
Raphinha was specifically referencing a chance when he was through on goal but could only kick his effort at Jan Oblak’s legs.
Shortly after on a Barca move, Raphinha gave the ball away in the Atleti penalty area which led to a counter attack resulting in Sorloth’s winner – though Alejandro Balde also has to take his part of the blame for being horribly out of position.
While the mood is the camp is obviously one of dejection among Barca’s crestfallen heroes, Raphinha, who is often the captain in the absence of the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen these days, said that he and his teammates “believe in the work were are doing”.
“There’s still half of La Liga left. We have to focus on working and looking for the best results,” insisted the winger.
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