Koke: "There's a lot of LaLiga left and we'll fight to the end"

"We wanted to go into the international break top of the table, but it wasn't to be." Those were the words of Koke, the Atlético de Madrid captain, in the mixed zone. In his view, it was "a tough defeat, but we have to keep going because nothing is lost".

After defeat to the league leaders, Atlético were hurt but not broken. That much was clear from the comments of Jorge Resurrección, 'Koke', straight after the final whistle against Barcelona. "They scored just before half-time from a move full of deflections. We even had chances to make it 2-1, but they had the ruthlessness that we lacked," said the Atlético de Madrid captain.

"We had chances in the first half, we were much better than them, and in the second half we kept them at bay, because they have a lot of possession, but in the end they were more clinical and that's why they beat us," Koke said.

For the Atlético captain it was a missed opportunity, but there is plenty of the season still to play. "We wanted to go into the international break top of the table, but it wasn't to be. Nothing is lost, it just wasn't to be, there's a huge amount of LaLiga left and we're going to try to fight for it right to the end," he concluded.