Garcia: ‘In my opinion we played on a par with Real’

Rudi Garcia has said that ‘the defeat was certainly not deserved’ after Napoli lost 3-2 at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Despite taking the lead at Stadio Diego Maradona, the Partenopei would go on to lose following an Alex Meret own goal in the second half.

Garcia spoke in his post-match press conference about the result, playing against a team like Real Madrid and Piotr Zielinski as the penalty taker:

Correct result?: “Disappointed with the result, because it doesn’t seem fair. A draw given the game, the statistics and the timing of the match was more normal.”

“We started very well, after the goal on the corner we scored on a low build-up. That’s something to do, making mistakes is part of the game, it’s not a problem. I liked the team’s thinking less after the 1-1.”

“We conceded an unlucky goal on a corner that perhaps wasn’t there. Ancelotti will talk about the penalty and we will talk about the third goal, so it’s better not to talk about the episodes. The defeat was certainly not deserved.”

On Real Madrid: “In my opinion we played on a par with Real, that’s a good thing. We have to believe and have confidence in our means. When you play in the best clubs in the world there are important players, world champions, but it’s not a problem of individuals tonight. It’s more a fact that we could have done much better after the 1-1 and suffered much less. The important thing is that we drew and believed in the victory.”

Zielinski as penalty taker?: “I don’t think so, as I have already explained there is usually a war in teams to take penalties. For this reason there is a list to follow, if there is no desire to follow it there is the choice to give up the penalty.”