Barcelona star Raphinha leapt to the defence of his team-mates after today's 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG edged a thrilling contest 4-2 against Barcelona at the Parc des Princes tonight, in the third round of the Champions League league phase.
According to "Mundo Deportivo", the Brazilian was the first Barcelona player to speak after the painful loss.
Asked about the game, the captain admitted it had been a tough one: "We knew this could happen. We are facing the two-time European champions, and playing in front of their fans is extremely difficult."
He rued leaving Paris empty-handed but refused to dwell on it: "We were aiming to win or at least get a point, but it is not the end of the world. Everything happens in its time, and in the end, we only lost three points."
Attention has already turned to the next fixture. "We will see what the coach asks of us to improve our performance and prepare for the Clasico (next Sunday)," Raphinha said.
Defeat did little to dent his belief in the performance: "This is a well-trained team. Despite today's result, we competed strongly. Both teams prefer to have possession of the ball, and we did have it, which made for a good test and showed our ability to compete. The result is what it is, but we played well."
On his own situation, Raphinha revealed his reduced role had been mapped out in advance: "In the end, I only trained for less than a week, and this was planned, as I played fewer minutes (he was substituted in the 60th minute)."
His fitness, he insisted, is heading in the right direction: "I finished the match feeling good and strong, and I am trying to improve my fitness further."
Dani Olmo, who limped off injured, drew a more guarded response from his team-mate: "I do not know what happened to Dani, and we will speak with the coach and the doctor to find out what happened."
Would any of this bleed into the Clasico? Raphinha was blunt: "It will not affect us at all."