Spain U21 boss Albert Celades admits his side “weren’t themselves” during Friday’s 1-0 defeat to Germany in the European Under-21 Championship Final.
Mitchell Weiser’s first-half header was enough to hand Germany victory over Spain, and Celades confessed his Rojita players were second-best to a “magnificent” Mannschaft.
“We’re naturally sad after losing a Final,” the Coach said after the game.
“We faced a magnificent team, who were better than us in the first half. The second was more evenly matched, but merely getting to a Final is very difficult.
“We weren’t ourselves in the first half. We dithered too much. We had to do a lot of things well and in the first half, we found it very difficult. We didn’t do things well.
“Germany’s goal? Things happen as they do. With the goal we conceded, everything became much more difficult. We played against a very good team.
“What the team learned? You learn from all your experiences. We’ll draw conclusions from all this, positives and negatives.
“We’re very proud of the players, the magnificent campaign they had, their involvement and willingness, but losing a Final is always tough.
“Germany? We had seen all their matches in the competition and some others. It often happens that you look for answers but don’t find them.
“We knew about their potential and qualities. They have aspects to their game similar to ours. We weren’t comfortable with what was happening in the first half.”
