Marcus Sorg: "We Made More Mistakes Than Usual"

Barcelona was outplayed in the classic match. As a result, Marcus Sorg was self-critical following his team's defeat to Real Madrid, which leaves the Catalans five points behind the Whites in the league and with the feeling that they are a shadow of last season's team. "We made more mistakes than usual, we tried everything but didn't create chances," the German assistant coach stated.

"In the final third, we missed the ability to penetrate and create danger. We tried everything, ended with only two defenders to create more opportunities, although we know Madrid is very good on the counterattack, but we didn't create enough chances," Sorg added.

Regarding Lamine's performance, Sorg downplayed the fact that the '10' couldn't find space to take on defenders. "It wasn't easy, we talked at halftime about putting him in one-on-one situations, but we didn't manage it in the first half, nor in the second. He tried everything, but they defended well and he couldn't succeed," the German emphasized. He also asked for time for Lamine to reach his best level.

"He needs more matches at the highest level. He's only 18, we need to give him more time to reach his peak. Defenders try their hardest to stop him, and this year they've worked harder," Sorg stated. Finally, he also defended him regarding his recent statements and the final moments of the match. "There were a lot of people around the benches shouting, we have to accept it and focus on the game," he confirmed.

Frenkie de Jong, his teammate, also tried to downplay the situation regarding Lamine's statements: "He's in the Kings League, people tell him things. But I haven't heard him say it like that. It's very exaggerated, it wasn't that big," the Dutchman assured. The Barcelona midfielder found the final behavior of the match "exaggerated" and reproached Carvajal for what happened: "If you're a teammate and you know him and think he shouldn't make those statements, you can call him," he stated.

Finally, the Dutchman didn't want to compare with last season, where Barcelona didn't lose any of the four classics: "We shouldn't compare with last season. We have energy. In the first half, we weren't as sharp with the ball, we missed the final pass, control, and Real Madrid hurt us a lot. In the second half, we controlled more, but we lacked creating danger," he concluded.