Ocampos, Fernando and Rakitic

OCAMPOS, FERNANDO AND RAKITIC DISCUSS THE DRAW IN WOLFSBURG

29/09/2021
The three players spoke to Official Media after the match in Germany

Lucas Ocampos, Fernando Reges and Ivan Rakitic spoke to Official Media after the team picked up a 1-1 draw at the Wolfsburg Arena. The Argentine was the first player up: "We're feeling bitter about the result because we think that we could have won and brought the three points home. They looked to play on the counter, but we did not feel that we were the worse side, we got a draw and it leaves a bit of a bitter taste. We wanted to go and win, but not being able to win is important too. We'll try to do our best in upcoming matches to qualify for the next round". Ocampos highlighted his role and his teammates' too as they pick up minutes: "We have a lot of players who can bring solutions. We changed things when Marcos got injured and we'll keep working hard, we know we've got players who can come on and make the difference". 

As for Fernando, he was the most self-critical of his side's performance today: "It's been a difficult match against a team that are physically very strong. We did not start the match well and we had a bit of a bad time today, we knew that they had players who are difficult to mark, but we weren't good on the ball and we must improve on that". Continuing on from that, he then spoke about the improvement in the second half, despite the fact he is not happy with the result: "In the second half we improved a bit and even tried to win, but I'm not happy because we'll have to do a lot more and win the next matches if we want to progress. We have four difficult matches, but we have to do a bit more and win those matches to go through". 

Ivan Rakitic, the goalscorer tonight, was the last player to speak, and began by focusing on just how important that goal was: "I could not miss, the point was very important for us to keep fighting to qualify. It was quite a strange match, but the team fought until the end and we went close to scoring a second, but the Champions League is very difficult and we must learn from our mistakes and start winning. It's a shame that we could not win, because the team work really hard. Maybe we need to have more patience to better control the match, they did not press too much, but a point away from home is good and we must start winning at home". To finish, despite the fact it was good to get a point, his teammates feel bittersweet about the result: "Maybe the point does not feel particularly good, but as we scored late on the draw can also be good. We wanted to win against a very strong side and we couldn't, but I'm proud and happy with the team's attitude. We must continue with confidence".