Unai Emery spoke of his pride in his Sevilla side after seeing the team beaten in a nine-goal UEFA Super Cup epic with Barcelona.
Sevilla went in front through Ever Banega, then fell to a 4-1 deficit, only to recover and take the game to extra time with a 4-4 score line.
Pedro Rodriguez came off the bench to make it 5-4 but Emery wasn’t critical of his side when he spoke to reporters after the final whistle.
“I don’t know if the result is fair but with the chances we had, I’m left with the taste of going so close,” he said, Marca reports.
“We have competed, we have maintained. I think the team really deserved it. Reaching these levels in August leaves you scarred.
“Vitolo, Krychowiak…it’s a brutal requirement for the middle of August, but this is what we want.
“If we’ve taken a step forward by reaching the Champions League and the Super Cup, we have to challenge ourselves, to grow, to compete with teams like Barca and see where we can go.
“We’ve taken a step forward. Even in defeat we’re proud because we’ve been here. I said at the start the worst thing was that we wouldn’t look like ourselves, and we did.
“It’s a message of optimism for Sevilla, and to the top teams, that we are going to demand a lot.”
