Santi Cazorla, Veljko Paunovic, and Aaron Escandell spoke after the 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the second round of La Liga. The midfielder expressed his desire to play more. His coach and teammate commented on the refereeing.
Aaron Escandell, the Real Oviedo goalkeeper, lamented the 3-0 defeat against Real Madrid at the Carlos Tartiere, acknowledging that "the best in the world" punish any space they find. However, he chose to focus on the positive image his team portrayed and the support of the fans.
"I want to thank all the fans because it's a record attendance at the Carlos Tartiere. In the first half, we didn't compete as we should have, but in the second half, we came out completely different, we had opportunities, and in the end, when you're open, you make mistakes and teams that have the best players in the world punish you. You pay dearly for details that are not taken care of," he analysed.
"We had the opportunity to equalise, and they, at the first opportunity, caught us open, going for the equaliser to believe until the end or get a goal. You pay dearly, but we have to continue because we competed well," he added to 'DAZN'. Escandell declined to criticise the referee's decision in Kylian Mbappé's first goal, which was preceded by a challenge from Aurélien Tchouaméni that the Real Oviedo players protested.
"Everyone has their own criteria, I respect the referees because it's a very difficult role, but the first one is very strict. Tchouaméni might have touched the ball, but it could be a foul. He saw it that way, and it doesn't matter, we worry about ourselves and think about the next match," he concluded.
Following Aaron, Veljko Paunovic, his coach, and Santi Cazorla spoke to 'DAZN'. The coach admitted that he felt aggrieved by the referee's decision not to award a foul for Aurélien Tchouaméni's challenge before Mbappé's first goal, but reasoned that the other two goals from 'Los Blancos' stemmed from his own team's lack of accuracy and that, therefore, their defeat cannot be attributed to the referee.
The legendary midfielder, in his turn, admitted that he would have liked to spend more time on the pitch. Even so, he stressed that he does what the coach asks of him and that he has to respect all his decisions. Furthermore, when asked about a mini-chat he had with Dani Ceballos, he joked about the possibility of signing him for this season and even prepared his registration to include him in the squad.