Juanfran ‘stronger than ever’

Juanfran feels he is ‘stronger than ever’ after ‘recovering psychologically’ from the pain of missing a penalty in the Champions League Final.

The Atletico Madrid full-back struck the post with his spot kick and delivered the trophy to Real Madrid, Juanfran acknowledging when he appeared on El Laguero that the disappointment took its toll.

“I have recovered psychologically. That night I had a bad time, one of the saddest nights of my life. But the days passed and I felt the support of my teammates, the club and the fans, something for which I will be grateful for the rest of my life,” he said, AS reports.

“It’s something to which you expose yourself and you have to be prepared for life. I’m now stronger than ever. The defeat will improve us because complicated moments make you stronger for the future. I feel stronger than ever and I’m eager to reverse the situation. I feel a lot for my friends and the fans who dreamed of that trophy, but I’m sure what doesn’t kills us makes us stronger.

“I wrote [the open letter of thanks to the fans] at night the next day. I could see the support of the people. Instead of feeling bad for the missed penalty they supported me completely. I knew they were great but from that night they are even greater.

“I have only words of gratitude for our people. The feeling of being positive, that with this shirt we can go back to another final and win. We’ll keep insisting until we achieve it. I think in life if you insist and you work positively, it’ll come.

“I haven’t watched the penalty. I don’t want to see it. I know what happened. It’ll be there for the rest of my life and I’ll have to live with it and it has made me stronger. I could have hit it a little better. I saw Cristiano Ronaldo score and that we had lost, and I needed to get closer to our people and ask for forgiveness.

“We are one and I’m very proud of the union with the fans. I felt sorry for them. They were suffering like us. The feeling for the shirt and for the club is profound.”

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