Marcelo Bielsa says 'draw would have been more logical' for Leeds United - “If there had to be a winner, it should have been us'

Instead, the Whites suffered a 1-0 defeat, unable to come back from Anwar El Ghazi's early goal.

Bielsa's side had 70 per cent of the ball, but lacked the cutting edge to make the most of it.

“I think we played better than the opponent, we had many minutes of dominance, there were very few where we were dominated,” reflected the Argentinian.

“In the first half we created more chances than they did, even if they scored the goal.

“The goal was a chance which wasn't intentional and a shot by a player (Ollie Watkins) who slips becomes a pass to a player (El Ghazi) who was not even asking for the ball.

“In general terms, we should have been ahead in the first half given the chances we had but we didn't defend as well in the first half as we did in the second. We had the ball for most of the second half but we created little danger.

“We didn't concede any counter-attacks, we lost the ball in the final third (not in deeper, more dangerous positions), and all the crosses and passes from out wide were imprecise.

“In the set pieces, which we had plenty of, we also didn't manage to unbalance (Villa).

“I think it was a game where we didn't deserve to lose. I think the draw would have been more logical.

“If there had to be a winner, I think it should have been us but I do agree that in the first half we created six chances, a good number of chances, with the dominance more shared, and in the second half with complete dominance we only managed to create one.”

Both managers agreed Villa defended well, with the visitors three English defenders, left-back Matt Targett and central defenders Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, no doubt impressing the watching England manager Gareth Southgate, but Bielsa preferred to focus on his own side's deficiencies.

“We had many, many balls to attack them and the one thing that was positive is we only lost the ball in the final third,” he said.

“Having had so much of the ball at our disposal in the final third what you need in the final third is precision on the pass, whether that be from out wide to the box or from outside the box into the box.

“It could be interpreted as they defended our final pass well or you could say we lacked imagination and precision from that final pass.”

Dean Smith was delighted with his defensive unit.

“They're a very good team and very few teams will restrict Leeds to as few chances as we did,” he said proudly.

“We restricted the distance and the space for them to play in, which they're very good at. In the second half we gave more of the ball up and defended in a lower block.”

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