Marc Bartra: “This defeat saddens us because we fought until the end”

Marc Bartra was one of the protagonists in the final of the Copa del Rey. The center back, who scored Barça goal, said “it’s a shame. We’re sad because we fought for the title. We managed to equalise, but in the end it wasn’t possible.”

The Catalan went on to say that “the possession was ours. They had their chances and they took advantage of them. We need to congratulate our rivals and move forward.” He added: “I’m happy that I got to play in a Clásico that was a final, that’s a dream come true for me, and there’s nothing better than scoring a goal.”

The youngster also talked about hi physical conditioning coming into the match: “I didn’t train at all with the team before the game, not even this morning. In the end I played and I felt good, but I was very tired in the final minutes. I cramped up in the final play.” Lastly, Bartra thanked the fans for coming out and supporting the team. “We have to be united in order to win the leauge,” he said.

The following are statements made by the players after the game:

Andrés Iniesta:

“It’s a shame. We have to be thankful to the fans, they were with us all the way through to the end.”

“We’re coming off of a week in which we’ve been eliminated from two competitions. We tried until the end and details make a difference.”

“We’re leaving here disappointed that we didn’t win the title. You try to have the initiative in the game but Real Madrid are very decisive when they counterattack. We have to find strength to fight for La Liga.”

Xavi Hernández:

“They took advantage of their weapons. They hurt us with their counterattacks. If anyone is at fault, it’s the team. From the manager to the players. These are our errors, and our rival took advantage of them. We still have La Liga, and it will be difficult to win it, but we will continue fighting for the title.”

“We would have liked to win this for the fans. We should have won but we didn’t. We have another war on Sunday. We lacked effectiveness because we missed cleared chances.”

Dani Alves:

“It’s a very strange year. When we were at our best they scored the second goal, and we were unable to fight back.”

“I apologise to the people who came out to cheer us on. It’s a shame. This team has a lot of worth and we work very hard.”