Pedri, Araujo praise Barcelona hero after 1-0 over Atletico Madrid: “Hope we can keep him as long as we can” | OneFootball

Barcelona’s win over Atletico Madrid last night was comprehensive in every sense of the word. Barring their lack of clinical finishing and the scampering in the final ten minutes, there is not much that went wrong for the hosts at Montjuic.

Joao Felix’s goal in the first half eventually proved to be what separated the two teams at the full-time whistle. The win helped the Catalans pull back three points and gift themselves a massive boost on the mental front.

Pedri starred in the middle of the field for Barcelona on the night, completing 89 minutes and performing at a much better level compared to previous games.

Speaking to the media after the full-time whistle, however, he admitted that he still had room for improvement.

“These games have to be celebrated, they are complicated. I’ve ended up tired, I still have a little left to be 100%,” he said, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

The youngster went on to highlight the difficult opponent they were faced with on the night and the tactical ploy that allowed them to dominate large parts of the game.

“We knew that Atletico are a very intense team, we went out wanting to have the ball to turn them from side to side, in the end, it is normal that they prevail and that they want to score and have their chances.”

Looking ahead to the clash against co-leaders Girona, the Canary Islander admitted that it would be anything but easy to walk away with all three points.

“Yes, we are seeing that they are a team who have a lot of the ball, who want to play and surely it will be a nice game for us.”

Finally, Pedri gave his two cents on Joao Felix’s adaptation to Barça, performance for the team and potential future at the club.

“He is very happy here and I am happy for him, I hope we can keep him as long as we can.”

Araujo happy with win

Araujo captained Barcelona vs Atletico. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Ronald Araujo, who donned the Barcelona captain’s armband for the second consecutive game, was the next to share his thoughts. On the narrow scoreline not reflecting the team’s dominance, he said (h/t Mundo Deportivo):

“We had many opportunities to put the second or third and they didn’t enter. Iñaki was very good, it’s a very important victory.”

“We are very confident in the work we are doing with the coach, we were not being given the results and we knew that today we had to take a step forward,” he added.

The Uruguayan defender also joined the Joao Felix bandwagon as he praised his teammate for the strong display against his former club.

“He said he was calm, he wanted to show although he said that it was an ordinary game for him. I’m very happy for his game.”

Finally, the captain shared his support and voiced serious praise for Inaki Pena who stepped up fabulously to cover for Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the night.

“I have known Iñaki since Barça B., he is always working despite having Ter Stegen as a competition. I am very happy for his great game and for how he is helping us.”