Dele: “This hurt will drive us on”

Ninety minutes after the final whistle, Dele painted a picture of what it was like in our dressing room after defeat in the Champions League Final.

“It’s heart-breaking, no-one is really speaking,” he told us in the packed mixed zone at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, following our 2-0 loss to Liverpool.

“It’s time to reflect on what could have been. At the same time, and it’s difficult now, but we also have to look at how far we’ve come in reaching this final.

“It’s hard to take the positives right now but over time, players, staff and fans, when we look back at the journey together... this isn’t the end. We have to keep working, keep improving and take the feeling we have now of disappointment, that hurt and use it to drive us on.

“It’s been an amazing journey and I'd just like to say thanks to the fans for all their support. I’m sorry we couldn’t get over the final hurdle, but it’s a great learning curve and as I said, we have to keep this feeling inside of us, this hurt and take it into next season.”

Asked if the journey and the final had triggered a desire for more of the same, Dele responded: "It’s a taster of what is to come for this Club.

"We’ve amazing players, an amazing manager and on another day it could have been a different result. I feel like it wasn’t a bad performance from us. We dominated possession, but to concede so early meant they could sit back.

"We prepared well, worked hard for three weeks and played well and if we’d have been more clinical it might have been a different game.

"We can’t thank the fans enough for their support and we’re sorry we couldn’t get over the final hurdle, but in years to come... we’re back in the Champions League next season, that’s something to be positive about, we have to work on it and make sure we keep improving."