Russo after the exit: “I think we lost because the referee missed a foul” | OneFootball

Miguel Ángel Russo spoke after the elimination from the Copa Argentina and analyzed his team’s performance. The Boca coach emphasized the referee and the omission of the foul on Leandro Paredes that led to the Decano’s first goal.

The early elimination from the national competition at the hands of Atlético Tucumán was another tough blow for Miguel Ángel Russo’s team. Nevertheless, the coach expressed satisfaction with his players’ efforts and placed the blame for the 2-1 defeat on the match referee, Hernán Mastrángelo.

“Today was a tough blow for us, I think (Boca) did enough to win the match. The last 15 minutes of the first half, there were many chances,” began his analysis the coach. He then added: “I think we lost because the referee didn’t see a foul, but beyond that, we have to keep searching, balancing ourselves, and getting back up from all this for Boca’s fans and for ourselves as well. The team didn’t regress; at times we had many favorable situations, we just lacked that, nothing more.”

Later, the coach was asked how the team moves forward after this new setback: “We play again in 5 days, it’s also a tough, difficult match. (How do you get out of this situation?) By talking a lot. I think we’re on the right path in many ways. If you ask me about the team, today I liked the team. There was a lot of movement, we attacked down both flanks; there were many good things at the team level. It was expected that the opponent would wait back, I’m not complaining about anything, except for the goal that was a foul and the referee was right there. It was a strong foul because they threw Paredes down and for the referee not to see it is his problem.”

On the other hand, Miguel Ángel Russo stated: “I think Boca has a good squad, in the end, some results just aren’t going our way. The opponents defend, there’s no other football like Argentine football. We have to find a way, a solution. Ultimately, we have to understand how these things go. We had to play very frequently and now we also have to prepare for Huracán next Sunday.” Regarding the transfer market, he commented: “I don’t like to say much, I keep a lot of silence about that and that’s it.”

Russo still hasn’t won in his third spell in charge of Boca.

Russo and the return of Frank Fabra

The coach spoke about the return of the Colombian, who surprised everyone by starting instead of Lautaro Blanco: “I know Fabra very well, we’ve had good conversations. He’s doing well. Today, for me, he played a good, important match. He needs to keep growing. I trust him, just like I trusted Barinaga out wide. I think both of them did a lot of important things. Later, Frank started to feel it, I saw myself at one point that I had to take him off because he had put in a huge effort. He hadn’t played for quite a while, but I talk to him a lot, he’s good with me, he needs to keep working, growing, and searching.”

Fabra returned to play under Russo’s guidance.

In the same vein, Russo added: “Nowadays, the way teams play against Boca and the play down the flanks is key. We have Advíncula, we have Blanco on the other side. We have people so that, ultimately, we can attack from other areas. The opponents are dropping further and further back and that’s normal. It also speaks, at times, to the good performance and control Boca has over the match.”

He avoided talking about Palacios

In another part of the press conference held in the hall of the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, the coach was asked about the absence of Carlos Palacios and was blunt: “I’m not talking about the Palacios issue,” he said. This further fuels rumors of a non-football-related issue, despite the Chilean’s statement on social media.

Read also:

“Bow your head”: Edinson Cavani’s self-criticism after the elimination

Boca’s player ratings after the elimination against Atlético Tucumán

Boca lost to Atlético Tucumán and was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Copa Argentina

“It was real”: Sebastián Battaglia admitted he was fired from Boca at a gas station

Russo surprises: Frank Fabra starts against Atlético Tucumán

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.