Barcelona saw their dreams of the Champions League fall apart in a heartbreaking way in Milan. After mounting an impressive comeback to move 3-2 ahead on the Giuseppe Meazza, Inter scored twice after the 90th minute to send the Blaugrana back to the Catalan capital with empty hands.
Much of the conversation in Spain after the game was about officializing, with no fewer than four Barcelona players upset by Szymon Marciniak. Hansi Flick was also stunned by some of his decisions, but noticed that he was proud of his team and said that his side would be 'good by Thursday'.
Left-back Gerard Martin was seen after the last whistle in flooding of tears, and the water works were also in action for both Fermin Lopez and Raphinha. Perhaps the image of their grief was Frenkie de Jong, while he spoke with CBS Sports.
“It's just disappointment, a bit of an empty feeling. Just that.”
“I think we have made a good comeback, as we have done many times this season. To admit two minutes of the time, as they did, and then they score again in extra time. It's hard to take.”
De Jong was also asked about Flick's half-time conversation and noted that the German manager made few changes.
“We just had to keep playing the way we played. I think we played well in the first half. Maybe we didn't score, but we played better than them. They are also very good at what they do. All the honor of them. We just had to keep playing the way we did.
The Dutchman also confirmed that he would not look back on the game, nor would dream about it.
“No, in general I don't look at the whole game. Only my moments, and sometimes the highlights. But I think it will be too difficult.”
“I think I will no longer dream about this game. Maybe about the future. It's just hard to take.”