Atlético Madrid captain Koke has spoken out after his side's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League on Wednesday, addressing the case of team-mate Julián Álvarez, whose summer move to Barcelona never materialised.
Álvarez sat at the centre of the summer market once he made clear he wanted to leave Atlético, with Barcelona pushing hard to sign him. The deal collapsed in the end, and the Argentine stayed put in Madrid.
Koke reflected on the defeat afterwards: "We produced a very complete first half, we scored a goal, and then we knew how to control the flow of the match. They equalised, and we went into the break between the halves. Then they came back into the second half slightly better, and they scored the second goal. After that, it was difficult to get back into the match."
Speaking to the newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", he continued: "We know they are a team that presses hard, and they read the match in a way that suited them. It was fitting for us to increase the tempo of play, but we were unable to find the equaliser."
He then looked at the bigger picture: "We started last season in the Champions League with a defeat, and we reached the semi-final. The Champions League is a long season. And although we badly want to win matches, we lost in Bilbao a few days ago, and we lost again today. We want to win the next match."
Turning to the Álvarez saga, he concluded: "We are all very tired, and especially him. We have to let him play and enjoy himself and do his job, which is playing football. You all have to leave him alone a little, because he had a rather tiring summer. Let him give his best."
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