‘It is one fine detail that will make us even sadder’: Wolves boss Nuno refuses to dwell on VAR missing Sevilla encroachment as Raul Jimenez’s early penalty was saved in the Europa League quarter-final defeat
Nuno Espirito Santo was left frustrated by the refereeing blunder that may have cost Wolves a Europa League semi-final against Manchester United.
Raul Jimenez missed from the spot in the 12th minute with the score at 0-0 against Sevilla, but replays showed goalkeeper Bono slightly off his line when he saved Jimenez’s effort, while defender Diego Carlos appeared to have encroached into the area in time to clear the loose ball away from the Mexican, whose miss was the first of his Wolves career.
Lucas Ocampos’ 88th-minute header sent Sevilla into a last-four meeting with United in Dusseldorf on Sunday, but Wolves boss Nuno questioned why the kick was not taken again – and refused to blame Jimenez for the error.
Sevilla goalkeeper Bono was slightly off his line when he saved Raul Jimenez’s early penalty
Nuno was frustrated with the decision but refused to dwell on the incident after the game
‘VAR is there,’ said Nuno. ‘If that happens we should ask ourselves why they didn’t [re-take] it. There’s nothing we can do now.
‘It is one fine detail that will make us even sadder about it. Speaking about that now can only make us more frustrated than we already are.
‘Raul is an amazing player. The work, the goals, the talent he has – Raul is a fantastic player.
‘We wanted to go as far as we could. We came really close. Everyone is disappointed but we should not ignore the effort of the players. It’s 14 months of hard work – in the Europa League and the Premier League – and we’ve achieved good things. The disappointment cannot take away from all the good things we’ve been doing.’
Nuno refused to blame Jimenez for the defeat, describing him as ‘an amazing player’
Captain Conor Coady admitted Wolves would struggle to shake off the disappointment of this defeat, with the Premier League due to start again in a month’s time.
This defeat was the 59th game of a campaign that started for Wolves when they played Crusaders in the second qualifying round of this competition last July. They missed out on a place in next season’s Europa League on goal difference to Tottenham.
Coady said: ‘It’s a tough one to take. It’ll take a long time to get over. Every single player has left everything out on that pitch all season. We’re gutted.’
Wolves captain Conor Coady admits that it will take a long time to get over the defeat
Wolves hope Nuno, whose contract expires next summer, will sign a new deal before the start of the 2020-21 campaign but the Portuguese boss made clear that his squad needs to be improved.
He added: ‘If you look at the team that started the game. It’s the same, like the first season. We made mistakes that cannot repeat. We need players that can make us stronger, no doubt about it.
‘We operate on common sense and dialogue. This is what we’re going to do now. Let’s look at what we need.’
