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González: "We had many chances, but we lacked effectiveness"

The coach looks back on the 3-1 loss to FC Barcelona

RCD Espanyol coach Manolo González was not hiding his disappointment at the defeat suffered to FC Barcelona in the derby at Montjuic, despite an improved second period performance from his side.

“What we missed was competing like we did in the second half from the start. When you play at that level, you can hold your head up high," he told journalists in his post-match press conference.

“I'm not satisfied, but I'm proud” of the players’ dedication. You have to compete like absolute animals in these games, and we only did so for 45 minutes. It hurts me that we were not ourselves. In the second half we were mature, we stood up to be counter and we did very well.”

For the coach, “we are Espanyol and we cannot leave here having been made to look like fools. That really annoys me. When the crowd chanted that we were going to be relegated, I was fuming inside. It annoys me on behalf of our fans.”

He also insisted that “we had many chances, but we lacked effectiveness. They had that and we didn’t. These things make you lose the game.”