Marcelo happy with Madrid squad amid transfer talk

Real Madrid left-back Marcelo is happy with the quality within the team, despite Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup defeat.

Published : Aug 16, 2018 09:08 IST

Marcelo said he is happy with the state of Real Madrid after its UEFA Super Cup loss to Atletico Madrid, while Julen Lopetegui turned his attention to LaLiga.

Champions League holder Madrid lost its first international final since 2000 following a 4-2 extra-time defeat to city rival Atletico in Tallinn on Wednesday. A Diego Costa brace and Saul Niguez's stunning volley saw head coach Lopetegui lose his first competitive match in charge in the Estonian capital.

The defeat also raised questions over Madrid's transfer business, with the Spanish giants yet to replace Cristiano Ronaldo after his move to Juventus amid ongoing links to Chelsea's Eden Hazard, though Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Junior, Alvaro Odriozola and Andriy Lunin have arrived.

Marcelo – who has been the subject of reported interest from Juve – told reporters afterwards: "You have to focus on what we did well today. I feel that we put in a good shift. We had the ball, played as a team, and we fought as best we could."

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"We need to change our mindset because we have a whole season ahead of us. I don't make the signings. The squad looks good to me. We are united as a group. We played a good game until extra time."

"The winners are those who make fewer mistakes," added the Brazilian left-back, who saw Karim Benzema equalise and Sergio Ramos put Madrid ahead before Atletico rallied.

"Tonight, we failed and we don't want to make those errors again because it cost us a final. They made fewer mistakes and deserved to win it. These are mistakes resulting from fatigue, from not much training. Many players have been late back due to the World Cup, but that is no excuse."

It was not the result former Spain boss Lopetegui wanted after replacing Zinedine Zidane at the Santiago Bernabeu in the off-season.

Lopetegui became the first Madrid coach since Bernd Schuster in 2007 to lose his competitive debut, and while disappointed, he focused on Sunday's LaLiga opener against Getafe.

"In a final like this, mistakes can make a key difference and Atletico are experts in taking advantage. They got a deserved win," Lopetegui told reporters.

"When we leveled the scores, we were better, they tied it up in an unfortunate play. We have to congratulate them and pick ourselves up, because LaLiga is starting and we need to rebuild quickly. I feel frustrated and sad, but I know that responsibility forces us to move on tomorrow."

On Gareth Bale, who provided the assist for Benzema's first-half equaliser, Lopetegui said: "He had a great game, but it is understandable at this time of the season if the players are not at their best physically, we are very happy with his work and hopefully he will continue to improve over the next matches."

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