Barcelona squandered a great opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the La Liga table as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Real Betis earlier today.
Despite taking the lead twice in the game, first through Robert Lewandowski, and then Ferran Torres, the Blaugrana failed to protect their advantage and ultimately ended up sharing the spoils with Manuel Pellegrini’s men at Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Flick ‘disappointed’ confirms Kounde
Speaking to the media after the match, Barcelona defender Jules Kounde, who got the assist for Lewandowski’s opener on the evening, admitted that he was disappointed with the outcome.
“I’m disappointed, because in the last few minutes, we didn’t know how to protect that 1-2. I think we let them grow with our turnovers and our negative actions,” said the Frenchman.
“And in front of their home crowd, Betis are a good team, they know how to play,” he added.
Kounde and Barcelona couldn’t defeat vs Betis. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
The evening ended on a sour note for Hansi Flick as he was first sent off by the referee and then had to see his team fail to hold on to their lead from the stands.
On being asked how the German tactician was after the game, Kounde replied: “Disappointed. But good. We have to learn from our mistakes, there’s an important game in three days.”
When asked to elaborate on what went wrong for Barcelona that they ended up conceding in stoppage-time, the former Sevilla man said:
“‘We have to be a bit smarter in the last minutes. Don’t take risks, don’t play so many balls. Maybe we need to be more pragmatic.”
Finally, when asked about the penalty that Frenkie de Jong conceded with a foul on Vitor Roque, Kounde opined: “I didn’t see it. I suppose if he gave it, it’s a penalty.”
Following the disappointment against Real Betis, Barcelona will be back in action next week as they get set to take on Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League.
Source: AS