Vallecano Coach Pérez: "We Were Better Than Real Madrid 11-on-11; I Asked Players to Play Without Fear"

Rayo Vallecano coach Iñigo Pérez expressed his deep regret following the 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Matchday 22 of La Liga, asserting that his team delivered a strong performance and was the better side for significant periods of the match.

Pérez stated after the game: "The truth is that we lost, and that hurts me a lot. We delivered excellent things, and I don't need to exaggerate to praise my team's players. I feel very sad."

Pérez clarified that his team outperformed Real Madrid when both sides played with 11 men, but lacked attacking efficiency. He explained: "We were better than them when we were playing 11 against 11, but we lacked decisiveness in the penalty area. The Santiago Bernabéu stadium imposes great pressure in the final meters, and we were close to winning. Real Madrid's shirt imposes its prestige, and I asked the players to free themselves from this fear if we wanted to win, because hesitation gives the opponent an advantage."

Regarding the sending off of his player Pathe Ciss in the 80th minute, Pérez attributed it to excessive enthusiasm. He commented: "Pathe is a very important player for us. Sometimes excessive energy leads to such moments. I prefer him to be sent off due to enthusiasm and not for other reasons, and yet I confirm that we were better than Madrid before the sending off."

Concerning the addition of nine minutes of stoppage time, the Spanish coach said: "I expected a long added time, but the team was defensively organized, and I didn't feel we would concede a goal."

Pérez declined to elaborate on the referee's decision, simply stating: "I won't say anything, I don't talk about refereeing."