Xabi Alonso: "Our goal was to qualify, so I head home satisfied"

Xabi Alonso spoke to the media gathered in the press room at the Estadio El Prado to assess the Copa del Rey clash with Talavera: “These things happen in the Copa, and they've happened to other sides as well. At 1-3, which was a crucial goal, we then conceded a free-kick and it was 2-3. They put the pressure on and Talavera really got the bit between their teeth with their fans behind them. In the first half, we controlled the game well and took the lead, but failing to make it 0-3 left the game open and that's what we saw at the end.

It was a hard-fought second half. We chased the third goal earlier and had chances to get it, but it wasn't to be. It was an exciting knockout Cup tie. It's a special competition. Objective complete and onto the next one."
“The goal was to qualify so I head home satisfied. We've lacked a little bit of consistency and an ability to perform with greater stability during games. We can't afford to get complacent, we have to close games out. We have to be more mature."

Mbappé
“He was decisive with his two goals, because that's what Kylian has - scoring comes easily to him. The third goal was crucial and that's why we left him on the pitch, and why he started the game."

Debuts for David Jiménez and Cestero
“I know them well from Castilla. They're playing at an impressive level, just like Valde, Thiago y Joan. David put in a very steady 90 minutes. He likes to get on the ball and he links up nicely. Jorge is a player with immense potential that we have in Castilla. He's improving well this year and he's got some minutes under his belt. We know he's not far off."

Endrick
“He was really active, lively, changing the pace nicely and finding bursts in tight areas. You couldn't tell he hasn't been playing much recently. You have to congratulate him on a good performance."

Room for improvement
“We have just one focus, which is Sevilla on Saturday. We need the three points, we want a positive feeling around the place and to close the year on a high. We've got a break coming up to continue improving on what we have to - among those elements are consistency and an ability to extend our high levels of performance for longer spells within the game."

Is the team lacking effectiveness, besides Mbappé?
“The numbers are what they are but Rodrygo has scored in both of the previous two games and we need more guys who have got that clinical edge. We could certainly have scored more goals."

Talavera
“Just as I expected. It was a really special match for them and for their fans. We walked into a fantastic atmosphere and they were really competitive and playing for pride. I congratulate them, they were top-notch opposition."

What was the aim in playing four forwards?
“We needed players who were committed defensively. From the 10th minute, we were pretty steady in that sense and we controlled the game well. They did just as we asked of them."