Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa: We need to improve after Copa scare

MADRID -- Atletico Madrid attacker Angel Correa admitted that his side needed to improve after they lost 3-2 at home to Las Palmas in Tuesday evening's Copa del Rey tie at the Vicente Calderon but still progressed 4-3 on aggregate to the quarterfinals.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone named a strong XI including Antoine Griezmann, just 24 hours after he had attended FIFA's "The Best" gala in Zurich, and the France international opened the scoring early in the second half.

Las Palmas striker Marko Livaja equalised on the night with a superb solo strike, Correa's individual effort made it 2-1 and seemed to have ended all doubt, but Croatia international Livaja and youngster Mateo Garcia then both scored late on to leave Simeone looking stoney faced on the sidelines.

However the 2013 Copa winners still went through 4-3 on aggregate into Friday's quarterfinal draw, and the Argentina youngster told BeIN Sports after the final whistle that the way the game ended left him with mixed feelings.

"We are happy to have qualified, although we lost the victory in the final minutes," Correa said. "It was a very even game, they played very well, and now we must continue to improve."

Correa added that he was happy to have got on the scoreboard for the first time since October, while adding that his aim was fixed on the team upping their performances.

"I am happy to be able to score, as always, to help the team," he said. "But we must keep improving for what is coming."

Worse news for Atletico was a hamstring injury picked up by youngster Lucas Hernandez in the first half, with a club statement confirming the problem but saying further tests would be required to see how long the versatile defender would be sidelined for.

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