Ubeda on Boca exit: rues 'unforced errors', wanted a pen, says heads up | OneFootball

Boca were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Apertura tournament after losing 3-2 to Huracán at La Bombonera, and in the press conference Xeneize coach Claudio Ubeda lamented the mistakes made on Globo’s goals and said they now have to lift their heads quickly because important Copa Libertadores matches are coming up.

Speaking to reporters, Ubeda admitted that “obviously, losing a match the way we did today leaves us distressed,” and pointed out: “If you look at the overall flow of the game, we had absolute control of play, many scoring chances.”

El Sifón also regretted: “Yes, we made mistakes, because we started out losing after five minutes because of one of our mistakes. We were able to recover. Then came the two penalties.” And he claimed one for Boca: “I also think the play involving (Santiago) Ascacíbar was a clear penalty that wasn’t given. I say that because two were given against us. They’re not excuses.”

“I have nothing to reproach the players for. They made a tremendous effort, 120 minutes of an intense match. We created the chances. We have to focus on finishing our moves better,” the coach said, and again lamented: “Those kinds of unforced errors can’t keep happening. They end up knocking you out of an important competition.”

With their elimination from the Apertura tournament, Boca must now focus on the group-stage run-in in the Copa Libertadores, where with two matches remaining they are in third place and outside the round of 16.

“What we have to be clear about is that we have two finals ahead of us and we have to stay focused. Cut the margin for error to the absolute minimum,” said Ubeda, referring to the matches against Cruzeiro and Universidad Católica, both at La Bombonera.

“What we have to do is lift our heads as quickly as possible. We have hugely important competition ahead of us and more than enough reasons to know that we have to lift our heads right now and understand that we’re facing two matches that are two finals. I’m sure the team will do well,” he added.

“You learn from mistakes and we can’t let this kind of stage we’re playing slip away. If you don’t win, you’re out, and there’s no margin for error. They have to serve as a reference point so we realize they can’t be made again. In this particular match, the whole logic changed after five minutes, when we started out losing from the first mistake. That’s where the way the game was played shifted. For me, that was it. It wasn’t a virtue of the opponent,” Ubeda said, and added: “I don’t want to talk about unfairness because we didn’t score the goals from the chances we had, but we did have almost absolute control. With hardly any clear chances for the opponent. That leaves us sad.”

“We had the obligation to get through this stage because we felt we had to do it. The boys did everything to turn it around,” Ubeda said, and referred to the lack of efficiency in attack: “Miguel (Merentiel) is a player who creates, who creates scoring chances for himself, and he does it well. Sometimes strikers go through bad spells, just like when they’ve had good ones. We have to support him and keep working on things related to finishing to reduce that margin for error.”

“Before those matches both were on good runs. When (Adam) Bareiro arrived, he started playing and immediately scored goals. Miguel had been scoring. It normally happens. We have to work on confidence when it comes to finishing and help them keep creating chances,” he added.

“Mentally, we have to hold on to the good things we did in this match. The pressure we put on Huracán for much of the game shows an attitude of constantly going after the result, and we always come back to the same thing: reducing the margin for error we make and the lack of finishing,” Ubeda concluded.

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