Marcelino: “When we pressed up high we made a mistake”

Athletic Club manager Marcelino spoke to the press after his side lost 0 - 2 to Real Madrid in the Spanish SuperCopa. Marcelino touched on his team’s performance, Real Madrid’s brilliance, and some of the controversial calls from the referee.

“Real Madrid were very effective,” Marcelino said. “When we pressed up high we made a mistake against great players and we didn’t know how to organize ourselves, and a great player would appear after a great collective play.

Marcelino felt like his team had some bad luck in conceding a penalty early in the second half — one that he felt wasn’t the right call.

“The 2-0 penalty isn’t a penalty. It’s called VAR. Sometimes they’re called a lot and others very little. It was a key moment. We believed that we could’ve brought them danger.

“We competed with dignity. The rival didn’t run over us. You don’t know would have happened if we had scored the penalty and with Real Madrid being down a man.”