If there is one footballer who came out very hurt from the draw between Atlético de Madrid and RCD Espanyol , it is Rodrigo Riquelme . The match, which was going in the favour of the colchoneros, could not be decided in favour of the locals, who saw how each goal-scoring opportunity failed to get on the scoreboard. A despair that was experienced by Alexander Sorloth with his headers, Julián Alvarez , Samuel Lino who crashed the ball into the post...
And Rodrigo Riquelme , who had two goals disallowed for offside. Both in the second half, when Atlético de Madrid most needed to break the deadlock that would end in a goalless draw. The first was extremely fair, with a bit of controversy and a bit confusing due to the position of the goalkeeper, but the VAR made clear the reason for the invalidation of the goal.
The second, possibly the most painful, came practically in the last play of the match. The referee, after adding 8 minutes of added time, ended up disallowing Rodrigo Riquelme 's goal once again for an obvious offside. At the end of the match, Atlético de Madrid 's number 17 was the first to speak on the Movistar microphones, and analysed the match.
His keys to the match
Rodrigo Riquelme , immediately after the match, was clear that " In football sometimes you create few chances and you convert them. Today we created many in the first 20 minutes and the ball did not want to go in because there was also a goalkeeper and an opponent ." Despite a bad taste in his mouth, he said that he was satisfied because " we were dominant and we have to keep working for the next match ."
The Spanish extrem started in the starting eleven, something he values and thanks Diego Pablo Simeone for. " I've always said it, I'm not going to put any problems in the position because I want to help in whatever the manager decides. I'm fine and calm and with my head where I have to have it, which is day to day ."
On the other hand, " Roro " also spoke about Cholo 's decision to take off Sorloth for Reinildo at a point in the match where Atlético needed to score. "We all want to win and move forward, but we must not forget that if they score a goal against us we can lose and, therefore, it is important to maintain balance ." Something similar to what the Argentine coach said in the press conference, arguing that he saw that the match was breaking down and with the Mozambican he was trying to regain control.
He also spoke about the effort he made on the pitch, playing the 98 minutes of the match. " I gave it my all, I gave everything I had inside, which is what wearing this shirt demands ." However, he is " a little bit fed up that those two disallowed goals didn't help the team ."
The controversy over his first disallowed goal
Finally, Rodrigo Riquelme , the MVP of the match according to LaLiga viewers, also spoke about his controversial disallowed goal. It came from a rather accidental play, a cross from Barrios that the Espanyol goalkeeper didn't block, then a shot from Koke that ended up heading towards goal after the rebounds. And finally, with " Roro " pushing the ball on the goal line.
The latter was offside, and some people on social media criticised him for having touched the ball and not having let the captain's shot go in. Faced with these accusations, the Madrid native defended himself, " I felt that I had to push it, I'm not selfish, if I didn't push it, the Espanyol teammate would take it out." Words that later, in the celebration with his teammates, reflected that there was no problem between Koke and Rodrigo Riquelme , who gave each other a big hug before the annulment.