David de Gea has expressed his “intense disappointment” at Manchester United’s Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, stating that it has taken him “a few days” to collect his thoughts.
The shot-stopper couldn’t keep out Renan Lodi’s second-half header as United sunk to a 1-0 Old Trafford defeat. The 2-1 aggregate loss means the Red Devils will end a fifth straight season without silverware.
De Gea kept just one clean sheet in the seven Champions Leagues games he featured in this season, shipping a total of nine goals in the competition. Writing on Instagram, the Spaniard admitted United did not deserve to win the tie.
READ MORE: Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea left out of Spain squad for international friendlies
He said: “It’s taken me a few days to be able to talk about my intense disappointment from our Champions League exit. We didn’t do enough over the two games but this is on us.
"We must use this as energy to improve ourselves, to learn, to achieve and challenge again. That is all we can do in this tough moment. I have said many times that we are far away from where we want to be but, we as players will go again for the remaining Premier League games.”
Speaking immediately after the defeat to BT Sport, De Gea said Atletico shut up shop once they found the breakthrough. "As soon as they scored a goal, they put the whole team in front of Oblak," he said.
"We tried until the end but it wasn't enough to score a goal. This is football, we didn't do enough. Of course, it's not good enough, it's hard. It's hard for the club, for us, for the fans. Where we are at the moment, it's a difficult situation and we need to keep fighting, keep trying our best, but it's a tough moment.”
Despite United experiencing a tough season, De Gea has pulled off some fine saves in recent games and has arguably kept his side in the hunt for the top four. So his omission from the latest Spain squad for the upcoming international break raised a few eyebrows.
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Instead, Brentford’s David Raya has been given the nod. He will be looking to make his debut against either Albania or Iceland.
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