Luis Muriel feels Atalanta were ‘dealt an injustice’ with the red card, but believe they ‘can turn it around in the second leg’ with Real Madrid after a 1-0 home defeat.
La Dea held out for 86 minutes before conceding a Ferland Mendy strike from distance, despite having Remo Freuler harshly sent off just 17 minutes in.
Luis Muriel feels Atalanta were ‘dealt an injustice’ with the red card, but believe they ‘can turn it around in the second leg’ with Real Madrid after a 1-0 home defeat.
La Dea held out for 86 minutes before conceding a Ferland Mendy strike from distance, despite having Remo Freuler harshly sent off just 17 minutes in.
“It’s difficult to judge a game like this. We try to help the team, when we have the ball at our feet there’s not much oxygen getting to the brain, but we work hard,” Muriel told Sky Sport Italia.
“We certainly felt that we were dealt an injustice. We saw the video at half-time as well, it was a really excessive red card and it knocked the wind out of us. We had prepared a certain approach and that red card changed everything we wanted to do."
Nonetheless, a 1-0 result isn't a complete disaster going into the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie.
“I think we did really well keeping it as open as we did and putting ourselves in a position where we can turn it around in the second leg. It’s not impossible, we have a chance going into the second game.”
There was a good chance for Muriel, who drilled wide of the near post from the edge of the box.
“I tried to hit it quickly, as I thought the marker was closer, but when I took the shot, I realised I could’ve had an extra touch or moment to look up.”