Defending champions ATK succumbed to a 1 – 0 setback against Bengaluru FC in Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2017-18 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Sunil Chhetri’s first-half strike secured the win for the Blues as ATK squandered some chances to at least get a point out of the game. Post-match, indiansuperleague.com caught up with ATK defender Jordi Montel for his thoughts on the match. Here are the excerpts.

What are your thoughts on the game?

We are disappointed with the result. It was a very tough game. In the beginning, they came to the pitch very strong and they pressed us high and didn’t let us form any build-up play. The first half was completely for them. We had two chances, one for Rupert (Nongrum) and one very good cross from Zequinha. In the second half, we were a bit better with the ball and trying to build our game from behind, but the chances didn’t come and unfortunately, we couldn’t score.

Your thoughts on Bengaluru FC’s performance?

Bengaluru FC are a very good and compact team. They have a very good balance between defenders, midfielders and attacking players. They know exactly what they have to do, and we tried to score a goal, but it was extremely hard, and we couldn’t do it. We are disappointed with the game. We could not take the three points but in four to five days we have another game and another chance to make amends and bring back our confidence.

How does it feel after partnering with Tom Thorpe?

We have a very good team with talented foreign players and also players from India. We know exactly what to do but some games when we are unable to play the way we want to. As defenders, we are working for three months together and the head coach gave us instructions regarding what he wants and also to the others. So, I think, irrespective of whoever is playing, we understand each other very well and he (Thorpe) is a good partner. But so is Anwar (Ali) and Augustin (Fernandes). We have good players. Now what we need is to get results and our confidence. Now it is time to think about our mistakes, correct them and try and get three points when we play NorthEast United FC next.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming away games?

It is a little bit confusing. Because in the first half of the season, we will play only three games at home and six away. It is always nicer to play at home. Now, we will play two more games away and all we have to do is stick together as a team, leave the individualities aside. This is the key to success.