Sampaoli hails Atlético-MG, rues missing Hulk in draw: "Maybe we'd won" | OneFootball

A goalless draw persisted for the full 90 minutes in the match between Atlético-MG and Juventude, in the 26th round of the Brasileirão, last Tuesday. Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli praised Galo’s performance but said he missed Hulk, who was out due to suspension.

“We dominated from start to finish. I think it was the best match since I’ve been here. We lacked the decisiveness that, with the number of players the opponent (Juventude) had in their box, we had several chances. That’s football. We deserved to win by a wide margin,” said the Atlético-MG coach at the press conference.

Atlético-MG dominated the entire match and had chances to open the scoring, but was stopped by a good performance from Jandrei and the post. The best opportunities came from Rony, who hit the post at 8 minutes into the first half and forced a great save from the goalkeeper of the team from Rio Grande do Sul in the final stretch of the second half.

Without Hulk, no victory

The coach also pointed to Hulk’s absence as one of the factors for the draw. Even in a bad phase, Sampaoli believes that if the Atlético-MG captain had been on the field, the result could have been different.

“Hulk is giving everything he has to get back to his level. We need him. For me, with him, the team might have won today’s match,” he added.

With the draw, Atlético-MG moved up one position in the table, overtaking Corinthians and taking 13th place. Galo reached 29 points, the same as Timão, but with a better goal difference (-4 to -6).

Atlético-MG’s next match

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.