Friday, 16th January, 2015
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his disappointment after their 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid yesterday saw them crash out of the Spanish Cup.
Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos presented their respective awards won at the FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony on 12th January to the adoring Real Madrid faithful at the packed Santiago Bernabeu, but their mood soon turned sour when Fernando Torres converted an Antoine Griezmann assist in the first minute of the match.
Real Madrid, who had lost to their fierce derby rivals 2-0 in the away leg, had a daunting task to overcome a two-goal deficit and conceding a goal early on put their backs to the wall, Ramos pulled a goal back in the 18th minute for Los Blancos and the match stayed level at 1-1 at half-time.
The second half started in a similar vein with another Torres strike off a Griezmann assist in the 46th minute; the European champions drew level with a Ronaldo header, but the 2-2 final score meant that last year’s champions crashed out before the quarter-final stage after losing 4-2 on aggregate.
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Ronaldo admitted the strength of their opposition and conceded they did everything right, but there was no way through a resilient Atletico Madrid.
“We knew they had the advantage and the game would be tough. We lost a goal in the first minute. We knew that could happen. It was a disappointment to lose like that”, he was quoted as saying by AS.
“I’m delighted with how we played in the first half. You can’t play better. We put up a fight. We were very unlucky to lose two early goals [in each half]."
The Portuguese was disparaging in his assessment of their opponents’ playing style, but commended their ability to pull it off.
“Atleti don’t play attractive football. They are very defensive. They wait for dead-balls, but it works well for them. Their coach and players should be respected."
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