Barcelona coach downplays 2nd straight defeat in International Champions Cup

FC Barcelona's coach Ernesto Valverde on Sunday downplayed his side's second consecutive defeat in the 2018 International Champions Cup after a 0-1 loss against AC Milan.

Valverde said he was satisfied with the performance of his players in the third and final match of the pre-season friendly tournament, reports Efe.

"We are happy with the way they responded in the game they played," he said.

Although Barcelona suffered a 2-4 defeat against Roma in the previous round, Valverde insisted that "the highlight has been the players' attitude and their reactions to difficult moments within the game."

However, the coach stressed that it was time to analyze the Catalan club's results in this pre-season tour.

After Milan stunned Barcelona with a late winner in stoppage time, Valverde said that his players "dominated from start to finish," and justified the defeat by opining that "we did not take our chances and we were surprised at the end."

When asked about the new players who debuted with Barcelona in the US tour, the coach said: "We hoped that (Clement) Lenglet, Arthur and Malcom could add something to the team and on the tour we saw that."

The reigning La Liga champions' sole win in the tournament was a 5-3 penalty shootout victory over Tottenham.

--IANS

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