Liverpool lost 3-0 to Espanyol tonight, as the La Liga outfit celebrated their first game in the new Estadi Cornella-El Prat in style, with goals from Luis Garcia and a brace from Ben Sahar sealing an impressive victory for the hosts.
Reds manager Rafa Benitez acknowledged that his side were very much second-best, with the Spaniard admitting the home side thoroughly deserved their win.
"The game was very important for them. For us it was a friendly game, but you have to play with intensity in every match and you have to work harder than we did today," the coach told the club's official website.
"For 25 minutes in the first half we were more or less okay, but for the rest of the game they were on top of us, winning every second ball and challenge. You cannot win these kind of games if you don't work harder.
"We had chances and hit the crossbar and post, but clearly we did not deserve to win."
Benitez refused to highlight the poor performances of individuals, stressing that the defeat was down to collective rather than individual weakness.
"I don't think it was a problem of one or two players, I think the team as a whole were not working hard enough," he added.
"Espanyol were very good moving between the lines. We were not pressing and working together and it created a big problem for our defenders.
"But when these things happen in pre-season, you can change things for the start of the season. We have 15 more days and all the players can work together."
"We have had some players coming back late and they need to play and train more for their fitness, so we will see if we can improve in the next game."
Liverpool are now set to leave Spain, with their next pre-season game lined up in Oslo, where they will face Norwegian outfit FC Lyn.
Reds manager Rafa Benitez acknowledged that his side were very much second-best, with the Spaniard admitting the home side thoroughly deserved their win.
"The game was very important for them. For us it was a friendly game, but you have to play with intensity in every match and you have to work harder than we did today," the coach told the club's official website.
"For 25 minutes in the first half we were more or less okay, but for the rest of the game they were on top of us, winning every second ball and challenge. You cannot win these kind of games if you don't work harder.
"We had chances and hit the crossbar and post, but clearly we did not deserve to win."
Benitez refused to highlight the poor performances of individuals, stressing that the defeat was down to collective rather than individual weakness.
"I don't think it was a problem of one or two players, I think the team as a whole were not working hard enough," he added.
"Espanyol were very good moving between the lines. We were not pressing and working together and it created a big problem for our defenders.
"But when these things happen in pre-season, you can change things for the start of the season. We have 15 more days and all the players can work together."
"We have had some players coming back late and they need to play and train more for their fitness, so we will see if we can improve in the next game."
Liverpool are now set to leave Spain, with their next pre-season game lined up in Oslo, where they will face Norwegian outfit FC Lyn.
No comments:
Post a Comment