The Torres youth challenge

Atlético was overtaken in Nyon by a Salzburg a higher step in physique, punch, experience… A 5-0 that leaves a certain bad taste in the mouth to an epic European season, qualifying for the first time in mattress history for the final four de la Youth League and leaving unforgettable qualifying rounds in Croatia, the derby in Valdebebas or taking an entire Signal Iduna Park.

However, that forcefulness in the semifinal match should not sink the team. From the final whistle, Fernando Torres’s message was to learn, suffer the result, regret the defeat, but not get out of the way who has been wearing the team all season. “Surely it affects us. It is a tough result, a competition that we were very excited about. The boys live things a lot and it will hurt them, because we teach them that defeat hurts thembut it is the first experience they are going to have of manage that frustration and anger and the only way to get out of it is to forget it as soon as possible. Forget it in quotation marks, because it will not be forgotten in weeks or months and we will remember it for the rest of our lives.

But you have to get out of that state and think about what’s coming. If you stay in defeat you are always losing. We have to think from tomorrow about preparing for the next game we have in the League, closing it as soon as possible, being champions, If everything goes well, he gives us another competition (the Champions Cup) and we have to try to make them see him for the good things that come from his great work and not only in defeat”, explained the coach, who together with Ricardo Ortega has been brilliantly directing a team that is leaving great football all day. course and what I had only had the mole in Copa del Rey, eliminated by Betis in a duel where they could not count on three key pieces such as Pablo Barrios, David Navarro and Alejandro Iturbe for being with the U-19 National Team.

Barrios himself acknowledged in Nyon after the match that “we have to finish the season in the best possible way. It remains to raise our heads, focus on LaLIga, finish finishing it off and then think about the Champions Cup”. And the challenge is not minor. The rojiblanco team recovered from a somewhat hesitant start to the season, losing at home against Real Madrid included, he hit back at Valdebebas in the League and later in the Youth League and has been dominating the competition with an iron fist. Atlético’s match against Alcorcón was postponed to Thursday due to its European participation, but Real Madrid has punctured this weekend against Valladolid (2-2) and in case of red and white victory, the advantage will be extended to nine points, a practically definitive figure. If the Youth League was a dream and a prize to be in the final four, the team is going for LaLiga and does not want the blow to detract from the goal they have been fighting for so long. Win the domestic title and go for the Champions Cup, the best possible way to forget the European setback.