Koke not worrying about title after Madrid derby defeat: We´ll go again

Atletico Madrid will not dwell on how Saturday’s derby defeat to Real Madrid may have impacted their LaLiga title aspirations, captain Koke says. 

Early leaders Atleti suffered their first league loss of the season, ending a club-record 26-game unbeaten run, as Casemiro’s header and a Jan Oblak own goal proved their undoing. 

Koke accepted Madrid deserved victory as Atleti failed to attempt a single shot before the break for the first time in a derby since Opta records began in 2003-04. 

The visitors tested Thibaut Courtois only once in the second half, too, as Madrid closed to within three points of their city rivals at the summit. 

But Atleti, who had won their previous seven league games, still sit top and Koke is confident they can recover. 

“The league season is long and we’re still top – we’ll go again,” said Koke, who attempted (75) and completed (69) the most passes of any Atleti player. 

“They have played better than us tonight, especially in the first half, and there are small margins that make the difference, but we continue and go again.  

“We almost drew the game. We’re not thinking about who is going to win the league but just looking forward to the Copa del Rey coming up this week.”

1 – Atlético de Madrid have lost a LaLiga game for the first time since February 2020, also against Real Madrid (1-0), ending with a run of 26 league games without a defeat, their longest unbeaten run in the competition’s history (GP26 W17 D9). Brake#RealMadridAtleti #ElDerbi pic.twitter.com/aXBSR0TWOc

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 12, 2020

For Madrid, it was a third win and third clean sheet in succession – they saw off Sevilla before advancing in the Champions League in midweek – but Dani Carvajal, whose strike led to Oblak’s own goal, agreed with Koke’s assessment of the title race. 

“It has been a very difficult week for us,” he said. “We played tonight against a tough Atletico side. We’ll keep going – there are lots of games. 

“We’re doing well, it is hard to know how the season will play out. It’s not your typical season with injuries and things like that. 

“We were well on top tonight, pressed high, and they had two chances. We’re still in a very early stage of the season, but it was important to win tonight and we have Athletic Bilbao during the week.” 

The right-back, who celebrated the second goal by sucking his thumb and blowing kisses to the cameras, added: “I had a new baby this week and there was no better way to celebrate the birth than the way I did.”