You made a triple substitution, we don’t usually see that from you?
“No, we just wanted to give an impact from the bench. We have five substitutions and wanted to use them. We trust those on the bench. We just wanted to give fresh legs and more energy.”
What did you put the defeat down to? A hangover from the Man City game?
“No. We had a day off and two very good training sessions yesterday. We were absolutely sharp, looked very fresh and very hungry, and ready for a bounce back. It’s very difficult to put on a high rhythm against a team who defends so deep. If we defended deep against City it was difficult for them to create chances. It was the same for us here. But the difference was we gave two big chances and gave the belief back into the stadium.
“Manchester City scored from a set-piece with a deflected shot against us. Sometimes you need this. If a team defends deep, it’s hard to find your own rhythm. We were lacking runners. Once we started to do other things, we made mistakes and that cost us a bit of belief.
“A shooting problem. If we don’t shoot, they cannot be on target. If you play against a deep block like today, it’s hard to take shots. We found the spaces, it wasn’t easy. We had a lot of shots, but I think there are some chances late in the game where it wouldn’t have been so hard to find the target. I was liking the aggression we had yesterday [didn’t hear a thing]
“This game was a bit the same game against Atletico Madrid last season. It’s difficult, but we can do better.”
Thoughts on the goal?
“Disappointed. We’re all disappointed. It was the tough game we expected. You have to play with zero mistakes in midfield and take the risks in the right moment. To do this you need to be in rhythm, good decision-making
I didn’t feel us fresh today mentally. We were in training yesterday. Today it was not like this. I don’t know why. If you need any proof, look at the two ball losses in the first half and the cheap goal we gave away.”