Nuno Espirito Santo said nobody was blaming Raul Jimenez for missing a penalty as Wolves' first European quarter-final in 48 years ended in heartbreak against Sevilla.
A season that started on July 25, 2019 in the second qualifying round against Crusaders ended in front of empty stands in Germany, where their 59th match of the season proved a step too far.
Lucas Ocampos broke Wolves' resolve in the 88th minute to give Sevilla a deserved 1-0 win and Europa League semi-final against Manchester United on Sunday.
But things could have been different for Nuno's men had Jimenez not seen his penalty saved in the 13th minute - the worst moment for his 100 per cent spot-kick record for the club to end.
"Of course (nobody is blaming him)," the Wolves boss said. "Of course not.
"Raul is an amazing player, amazing player - all the things he does for the team: the work, the goals, the talent that he has is amazing. Raul is a fantastic player.
"We had to defend because it is a good opponent with good possession of the ball.
"The possession of the ball was always in front of our lines. It really didn't cause us many problems, so it required a lot of effort.
"We should improve when we recover the ball, have more time on the ball. But the defending until the moment of the set piece was good."
Jimenez's penalty miss was all the more galling as replays showed infringements, with Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou appearing to stray off his line in addition to player encroachment into the box.
"I didn't see the images, honestly," Nuno said. "I have been asked this before. But like I always say VAR is there.
"If that happens we should ask ourselves why they didn't repeat it. But there's nothing we can do now. There is nothing we can do about it
"Speaking about now that only can make us more frustrated than we already are."
Wolves just did not have enough in the tank to do anything other than sit back and dig deep in Duisburg, where Nuno reflected on a European campaign that was as lengthy as it was memorable.
"Like I've said many times it's a long journey," Nuno said. "We wanted to go as far as we could. We had it today really, really close.
"Of course, everybody is disappointed but we should not ignore all the effort that the players have been doing.
"It's 14 months almost of hard work, competing in the Europa League, competing in the Premier League, achieving really, really good things.
"Disappointment is something that cannot take away all the good things that we've been doing."
Wolves have little time to rest and recover from a mammoth campaign in which they finished seventh in the Premier League on top of their run to the Europa League quarter-finals.
"Now it's time to reflect and analyse," Nuno said. "If you look at the team that started the game, it's the same like the first season.
"We made mistakes that we cannot repeat. We need players that can make us stronger, no doubt about it."
Meanwhile, Sevilla counterpart Julen Lopetegui expressed his delight after his side set up a semi-final clash with Manchester United in Cologne this Sunday.
"I am very proud of my players because we were against a very good team," the former Spain boss said.
"We needed to have the ball and not make mistakes because they have very fast forwards.
"We played very well against a good team. We had to be very concentrated."
Scores
Day 2
New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227
New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
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McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
Lexus LX700h specs
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Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn
Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
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Based: Dubai, UAE
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
