Quique Setien admitted to being ‘sad’ after Real Betis were beaten by Real Madrid but acknowledged his team were ‘extraordinary.’
Madrid took the lead but Betis recovered to end the first half 2-1 up, only to conceded four second half goals, hitting one in reply, with the score at 5-3 to Los Blancos by the final whistle.
“I’m a little sad, we did a lot of things well, we committed a lot to Madrid and put them in a lot of difficulty,” Setien said post-match, AS reports.
“We played an extraordinary first half but it cost us at the start of the second. We were pressured, there were losses and the third goal hurt a lot. We recovered a little bit, we found space and we played in their half to get another goal.
“It wasn’t to be but I think we played a very good game and we did what we could.”
Betis remain in the fight for a Europa League place but Setien dismissed talk of qualification, instead urging focus on the rest of the season and again commending his players for their efforts against Madrid.
“I don’t think about the European positions. We have options to do things right. There are possibilities but it’s not something we contemplate now, we’ll see if we deserve to be there or not at the end of the season,” he added.
“We won’t always add points but today we had a team with lots of Champions Leagues and extraordinary players on the ropes. I’m happy with the work of the team despite the defeat.
“The emergence of the kids from the cantera is very good. We had expectations from the beginning with Junior, Loren [Moron] and others.”
