“We won’t forget this tough defeat,” says Los Blancos boss
Xabi Alonso has admitted he and his side are “hurting” after losing 5-2 to local rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Madrid arrived at the Metropolitano with a perfect record after six straight league wins, but were undone by a ruthless Atletico side inspired by Julian Alvarez.
The Argentina forward struck twice in the second half, adding to earlier goals from Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth, before Antoine Griezmann scored late on to complete the most lopsided Madrid derby in eight years.
“It was a bad game,” said Alonso. “We didn’t play well collectively, with or without the ball. We weren’t at the level we need to be at.
“We know we’re in a building phase. We have to take conclusions from what happened and they’ll help us in the future, but there are no excuses. We were lacking a gear. This defeat hurts.”
Atletico scored first but Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler had briefly put Madrid in front during a frantic first half, before Alonso’s team conceded the equaliser just before the break and then collapsed in the second half.
“We weren’t fluid with the ball,” Alonso said. “We weren’t able to win the ball in their half. We couldn’t impose ourselves in the duels.
“We won’t forget this tough defeat, it hurts us, it hurts the fans, but this is a process. Today we didn’t find the level we’d like, we have to be critical and try to improve.
“We didn’t compete enough. You need to compete more at this level, against these opponents. We feel responsible, and now we’ll see what we have to correct.”
