Real Madrid were stunned by a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night. However, defender Raúl Asencio remains confident his side can turn things around at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu next week and overturn the three-goal deficit.
“It was a complicated match. Things didn’t pan out the way we’d worked on them. We’ll take the positives from today where we can. We’ve still got a week to work on coming back from this. We have to keep our spirits high and get the team going so that we can complete the comeback,” he explained post-match.
“We’re pissed off, it wasn’t what we expected. We’re totally convinced that we can turn it around. This is Real Madrid, we’ve got a positive mind and we’ll go for it.”
Asencio believes his side must stick together as they head into next week, calling it a big moment for this los Blancos team.
“We weren’t at 100%, but I think that there’s lots of room to improve. We’ll work on this to be able to play a good game and turn this around so we leave with good feelings by being a team, working hard and changing our attitude.”
“If there’s one team in the world that can bounce back from this, it’s us. We need to give 100% at the Bernabéu, and we need our people. This team is convinced that we’re going to bounce back.”
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu will host the second leg next Wednesday, with kick-off at 20:00 BST [21:00 CEST].
