“It's a shame to lose like that”: what they said after the defeat of Lokomotiv from Juventus in the Champions League

“Could score a point and even win”

The match with Juventus in the 4th round of the Champions League group stage turned out to be extremely annoying for Lokomotiv. The railroad quickly missed after the ridiculous mistake of Marinato Guillerme, but were able to quickly recoup. Moreover, in the second half, the hosts had the opportunity to snatch victory, but instead missed the meeting in the third added minute and lost. Despite this, the team mentor Yuri Semin paid tribute to the wards and praised them for a good game.

- We have to talk about disappointment. They could score a point and even win. Could and yield. But I am grateful to the players for a good match. Even more than just good. They completed all the tasks that we set for them, reacted normally to the unexpected ball missed in the opening. I think this defeat can be added to the asset of the team, the guys correctly reacted to the hype that accompanied the meeting. But, probably, some mistakes occurred, fatigue played a role. Today, the main thing was not tactics - Lokomotiv played with its heart.

- It seemed that Lokomotiv acted more boldly than in the first match against Juventus.

- “We and Bayer played cheerfully, and in Turin. It depends on the situation, on the conditions. What does it mean bolder or not bolder? In Italy, we were not allowed to attack so much, and at home in some aspects we surpassed the opponent. One more thing - I am very impressed with how our players fought with Juventus players. These are world-class players, and they are great. By the way, Douglas Costa is some kind of evil rock for me, he constantly scored for Dynamo Kyiv for Shakhtar when I coached Kiev.

- Do not you think that Alexei Miranchuk is ready to move to a European top club?

- Alexey should stay with us. Loko and Miranchuk are one, the fans love him very much, and he enjoys the game. Where can he go? At Juventus? At Barca? You are welcome. But now Alexei is in Lokomotiv. However, like Anton.

- What is the reason for the next mistake of Marinato Guillerme?

“And when was he still mistaken?” Do not remember that. And how much does he help out? The main thing is that such situations do not unsettle Marinato. And it’s also very important how the team reacted. See how fast the ball flies after hitting Ronaldo. Those who catch him are outstanding goalkeepers.

- How did the wards set up for the Portuguese?

- Tune them to Juventus as a whole, and not to Ronaldo. Did he have a bad match? Cristiano organized a goal. He doesn’t play badly at all. He plays either well or very well. Good luck to Juventus, we will cheer for you. I wish you to meet Atletico in the finals.

By the way, even the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who personally attended the match, appreciated Loko’s meeting with his eminent rival. "Good game. Ronaldo had three points today, but I'm glad he did not score. I do not know what to write to him after this meeting. To be honest, I didn’t think that Lokomotiv would play so well. I didn’t expect it, ”the Championship quotes the fighter.

But the mentor of the guests Maurizio Sarri, despite the victory, on the contrary, was dissatisfied with the actions of his wards and criticized them at the post-match press conference.

- From a technical point of view, we made a lot of mistakes. With tactical - even more, so I did not like the match. We gave too much space to the opponent for the development of attacks, allowed to create so many moments. But in football, the winner is the one who plays well. Therefore, it is strange to talk about a beautiful game, it is associated with the result. As for tactics, maybe we made too many changes after previous matches. But the players accumulate fatigue, and these permutations were necessary.

- Why did you decide to remove Ronaldo from the field at the end of the meeting?

- He was replaced due to fears for his physical condition. Already at the end of the first half, we had reasons for concern, after the break there were also problems when Cristiano accelerated. They were afraid that he might get damaged, which would interfere with him in the future.

- Douglas Costa has recently recovered from an injury. When will he get the best shape?

- He is really an important football player for us, but now he is not in the best condition. He still lacks branded speed, but he has an excellent technique. Neither Douglas nor Aaron Ramsey could play 90 minutes in two games in a row, so they decided to release one first, then the second. Kostya still has something to work on.

“Two Juventus players beat our entire defense”

The main character of the match as part of Lokomotiv was Alexei Miranchuk, who again hit the gates of Juventus. Unfortunately, his goal this time was not enough to get points in a duel with Turintsy. But the midfielder, like Semin, called the past meeting good.

“Fans liked the game. This, of course, is good, but we go out on the field to collect points. It was again not possible to do this, which cannot but upset. Most of the match was defended, which is hard. In the end, they got hooked, but in the episode with the second goal conceded, two Juventus players beat our entire defense, were late for a split second, and we were immediately punished. The Russian Premier League and Juventus in the Champions League are different tournaments, different moods. It’s nice to play with teams of this level, ”Miranchuk said.

Alexey also shared with reporters an opinion about Guilherme’s mistake.

“Marinato has nothing to apologize for, I think he himself understands everything, it was a game moment. This happens in football, we quickly recouped, had moments, words are not needed here, ”the player emphasized.

They asked Miranchuk about his possible transfer to a strong European club, but the midfielder after an insulting defeat was clearly not up to it.

“I didn’t communicate with Ronaldo, now I don’t think about a possible move to Italy. I didn’t change t-shirts with anyone, there was a feeling of devastation, everyone was upset, because they had not suffered for just a minute. The most unpleasant thing in football: it's good to play and skip like this at the end, ”the midfielder added.

Finally, the 59th issue of Lokomotiv spoke about the absolute moment at the Juve goal ten minutes before the final whistle, when Leonardo Bonucci took the ball out of the ribbon. At the same time, it seemed from the stands that the defender played up his hand.

“I was near, of course, it seemed to me that there was a hand, but I think the judges looked at the replay, then everything was clean. I think we played a draw, we had moments. But the implementation was not enough, because there were approaches and strikes. It's a shame to lose like that, we will understand the reasons for what happened and work on the mistakes, ”Miranchuk summed up.

“The rival was so closed that I remembered Ukraine”

As part of Juventus, the authors of both goals shared their impressions of the match. For Costa, this ball was especially important, because it recovered from injury for a long time and first entered the field in the current Champions League draw.

“Glad to play and score again. It is important that I did not feel pain and remained at the same level. The match was difficult. The rival was so closed that I remembered Ukraine. The period when I played there as a member of Shakhtar, ”said the Brazilian.

But Ramsey apologized to Ronaldo for having “taken” his first goal.

“My instinct told me that it was possible to break through. This is probably one of the craziest goals in my career - there were millimeters to the goal line! Unfortunately, due to an injury, I missed the pre-season fees, but now I feel good. I hope I can help the team more often. Today, we needed only a victory, but there was still a lot of work to do, but in the meantime we completed the main installation and left the group, ”the Welshman said.