Atletico Madrid lost the derby with Real at the end of a challenge that, like every important derby, leaves behind controversy. Ancelotti won with the usual pragmatism, but the hosts pointed the finger of accusation at the red of Hermoso, since the score was 2-1 and with many “Los Colchoneros” in the Real zone, it left the field for a dubious exclusion. Jan Oblak analyzed the challenge, stating to the Spanish media:
“There is always a bad feeling when you lose. It is always difficult to leave the field defeated. This challenge leaves us with a very bitter taste. We lost a very important game, even though we didn’t play badly at all. I don’t believe the team deserved this defeat, but football is sometimes unfair. Real proved to be good at taking advantage of the opportunities they had, even though they thought more about defending. They close the field well and have very fast players in attack to be released in the spaces that are created. They were lucky to score both goals in the chances they created and everything was easier there.”
According to Oblak, the 1-2 goal came too late and then the red card for Hermoso effectively ended the match.
“Maybe we waited too much, but we were there, we tried, and for the way the match went, I believe it was a sin that we didn’t equalize and win. I watched the video of my teammate being sent off. I have to say that the referee was very close to the action and, frankly, I don’t know what he saw to make that decision. There shouldn’t have been a yellow card, there were 3 minutes and we could have been more dangerous in numerical parity in a final where our opponents were struggling to contain us. You regret losing a match and that makes it even harder. I am very sad.”
