Jorge Sampaoli insisted it was “desperation” on Athletic Bilbao’s part and not Salvatore Sirigu’s red card that condemned Sevilla to a 3-1 defeat on Saturday.
Sevilla were still in the game at 2-1 down, until a moment of madness saw Sirigu plant his elbow into Aritz Aduriz’s back in the box, Athletic then capitalising on their man advantage and the striker from the resulting penalty.
“It was a sporadic piece of play. One should analyse the anxious moment and see who came wanting to draw the game,” the Coach said after the match.
“This desperation for the result makes such situations sometimes happen.
“Our opponents neutralised us very well. When you don’t take your chances against such strong opponents, it lets them overcome you.
“The passage of time made our team go further and we improved, but we should’ve been so for the whole game.
“It’s true that all the openings we had weren’t transformed into scoring chances.
“Nasri had an immense game and lived up to the quality he has. He’s going to bring us a lot this season.”
