Atlético Madrid’s Conor Gallagher: Moving Past Champions League Heartbreak to Focus on LaLiga Showdown with Barcelona
In the world of football, emotions can swing wildly from one match to the next. Just ask Atlético Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher, who is navigating the emotional rollercoaster that comes with a dramatic exit from the Champions League and the anticipation of a crucial LaLiga clash against Barcelona.
On Friday, Gallagher spoke candidly about the team’s mindset following their controversial penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday. “It [Champions League] is a performance to be proud of and we’re gonna take that feeling that we had from the loss and take it into our next match as motivation,” Gallagher told ESPN. “Maybe we didn’t have all the luck in that game, which is unfortunate, but you can say that a lot of times this season we did.”
Atlético Madrid managed to secure a 1-0 victory at the Metropolitano, thanks to Gallagher’s early goal, which leveled the tie at 2-2. However, Real Madrid advanced to face Arsenal in the quarterfinals after a tense penalty shootout.
Gallagher acknowledged the mental challenge of moving past such a loss, especially with a high-stakes match against Barcelona looming. “Of course it can be difficult on the mental side of things to get over a loss like we did and make sure we are 100 prepared for such a big game, but we can use it as motivation and fire to give our best performance against Barcelona because they are the team to beat.”
The LaLiga title race is heating up, with Atlético trailing both Barcelona and Real Madrid by just one point. However, Barcelona has the advantage of having played one less match. This makes Sunday’s encounter a must-win for Diego Simeone’s squad, who must quickly shake off the disappointment of their Champions League exit.
The penalty shootout loss was particularly painful due to a disallowed spot kick by Julián Álvarez. A video review revealed a double touch, as Álvarez’s support foot inadvertently nudged the ball before his other foot struck it into the net. “What happened, happened, unfortunately. It can happen to anyone,” Gallagher said. “Obviously it is a shame that it had to happen at that moment but it is football and these things can happen.”
While Gallagher was unaware of the UEFA review, he emphasized that dwelling on the incident was pointless. “If he [Álvarez] touched it twice then what can the ref do?” Gallagher said. “It is what it is. If there are rules there, those are the rules. The game is done so it doesn’t change anything.”
Even Simeone admitted the difficulty of overcoming such a loss. “Honestly, it isn’t easy to get over the way we lost this tie. We can’t lie to ourselves,” he said. He also noted that Barcelona might have a physical and emotional edge, having had an extra day’s rest after their victory over Benfica on Tuesday.
“We face a great rival on Sunday. I imagine the Barcelona’s players were wanting our game to go as long as it could, to reach penalties,” Simeone said. “We will arrive tired and beat up after having fought hard in a tie that demanded we give it our all, but we will throw everything we have left [at Barcelona].”
- Atlético has challenged Barcelona twice this season, with late goals by Alexander Sorloth securing a 2-1 win at Barcelona in the league and a 4-4 draw in the opening leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.
Gallagher is well aware of the threat Barcelona poses. “We know how Barcelona can play and they play so well as a team so we know how focused we need to be defensively to try not to concede,” he said. “And we need to do our stuff with the ball as well to try to create chances and score and make sure we are all on the same game plan and I am sure we have a good chance.”
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski reflected on his team’s growth since their league loss to Atlético in December. “I think that in the beginning of the year after the games, not only against Atlético at home but also two games, or 3 games before that we didn’t play well,” he told ESPN. “We know that we have to take the lesson from these games and try to do this better in the second part of the season and I think we learned a lot. I think and I hope that this season, the second part, because of this period, what happened in December can help us a lot.”
Barcelona has been on a remarkable run, going unbeaten in 17 straight games across all competitions since that loss to Atlético in late December. Gallagher acknowledged their resurgence. “They went through a tough patch at one point but everyone can see this season they have been brilliant, so we know what they can do and we need to be fully ready for their threat and I am sure we will be,” he said.
Looking ahead, Atlético will also host Barcelona next month to decide their Copa del Rey semifinal, adding another layer of intrigue to this fierce rivalry.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Originally Written by: ESPN
