De Marcos: “Courtois put out a foot to prevent the comeback”

Oscar de Marcos, Athletic Club’s captain once Iker Muniain left the field in the second half, spoke to the media after his side lost to Real Madrid 0 - 2 in the Spanish SuperCopa final in Riyadh.

“We have to learn from everything and it is very difficult to reach the finals,” De Marcos said of the disappointment of losing the final. “We fight with our philosophy and we have to give value to what we’ve done. That is why we celebrate when we arrive here. It is true that we have only won one, but there are many teams to those who would like to be here.”

De Marcos had a lot of praise for Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, and like his manager Marcelino, expressed disappointment in conceding a penalty so early in the second half.

“The 2-0 goal so early has distanced us on the scoreboard,” de Marcos explained. “We wanted to stay alive until the end because they are always long games and you have to be very involved. We have had the opportunity with our penalty to try to squeeze it but they have great players and Courtois has put out a foot to prevent the comeback.”

“We tried not to get messy because Real Madrid is a team with danger on the counterattack and you have to be well armed. Once you’re behind in the scoreboard it’s true that you have to go with more people in the attack”.