Carlos Vela reflected on how Real Sociedad turned things around against Bayer Leverkusen and why the 2-1 defeat felt undeserved.
La Real responded in the second half of their Champions League match at BayArena on Wednesday evening, with Vela’s equaliser off a rebound from his own missed penalty cancelling out Simon Rolfes’ opener for the hosts.
However, heartbreak followed with Jens Hegeler netting a free-kick in the final moments of the game for the 2-1 win for the hosts.
“The team did well in the second half, but we conceded a goal in the last minute and that makes it difficult for us,” Vela mused post-match to UEFA’s official website.
“We are a little bit disappointed because we think we deserved at least a point. At half-time we were already losing 1-0 so we told ourselves we have nothing more to lose.
“We need to go out there, attack, do our best and play football. We changed our mentality and tried to win this.
“We played well, created good opportunities but missed them in the end. With a very small mistake we lost the game and were very disappointed.
“We knew Leverkusen would be strong with corners and free-kicks, they have very tall players and they played a very good game, especially in the first half.
“They defended well before the break. They take the three points and we have to congratulate them on that. We have to continue to fight and try to change the dynamics.
“It is now a difficult situation for us, we have zero points and go to Old Trafford next. That will be a very difficult game but we have to fight and try to give the best in every game for the team and the fans. They travel so far to be with us.”
