Casemiro: "It was a great opportunity to reach the final, but they were the better team" | OneFootball

Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois and Vinicius Jr. assessed Real Madrid’s display at Stamford Bridge. The Brazilian midfielder said: “We were better in the first 25 minutes and Karim had a couple of chances. Then they created more chances and played better. We can’t make excuses. There’s no turning back. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves".

"Now we have to focus on the league. This weekend we face Sevilla and it’ll be a really tough match. It was a great opportunity to reach the final, Chelsea were the better team and we must congratulate them”.

Disappointment at being knocked out “We have to think about our next game at Real Madrid. We’re disappointed because it would have been a great achievement to get to the final after the year we’ve had with so many injuries, Covid-19 and playing without fans, but we did our best. Every game is difficult and today we saw how tough it is to win the Champions League”.

Ramos “He did well. He’s our captain and leader on the pitch. He’s a really important player for us and he keeps working hard just like all the important players here”.

Courtois: “Chelsea were the better side” “In the first half we had control of the ball but we didn’t create enough. We had a good chance with Karim’s effort but the keeper made a great save and then they got the opener. In the second half we tried to get the goal but they defended well and hurt us on the counter-attack". "It’s tough to take but we have to keep going because that’s football and you lose sometimes. We have to rest up now before Sunday’s game against Sevilla. We tried to attack and cause them problems but they’re really quick on the counter and that’s where they hurt you”.

What’s the team lacking? “The Champions League is not easy. Sometimes you come up against a superior team like we did tonight and there’s not much you can do. Next year we’ll fight to try and get to the final but there are big teams around and you won’t always make it. It was our dream but Chelsea played better than us”.

Vinicius Jr.: "Now we have to fight for LaLiga” “We were up against a good side who play some great football. We tried everything we could and now it’s time to fight for LaLiga. It’s tough not to have won it but we’ve got four hugely important games left to try and win the league. It’s normal for a team that has won everything in recent years to lose at some point but we’re going to keep working hard to win big things for our fans. We have to remain focused”.

New position “It was a new position for me tonight but the coach explained everything I needed to do, even if I didn’t manage to do anything too good for the team. I have to keep working towards winning LaLiga”.