Focus until the end
“This has to serve as a lesson for us. These are difficult situations, we’ve made things more complicated than they should be. It’s important to stay in the game, things change very quickly. Matches are much longer than 90 minutes, there’s another game from that point until the final whistle. We went over a hundred minutes today, and there’s still a lot to play in the final stretch. We showed images of Champions League finals: Manchester United lifting against Bayern, Liverpool against Milan, and the Madrid final with Sergio Ramos. You can’t lose focus for a second, they’re playing for their lives and giving everything. This has to teach us something. We discussed set-pieces, but we wouldn’t have scored five goals otherwise. We outshot them, and they dominated in the air, one has to measure what they want, and it leads you to the situations you face.”
Maturity and personality
“We’ll focus on the final stretch of the match, which was absolutely chaotic. I value the way we started the game well, we need to avoid the chances they created in the first half. They got the penalty, and then a complex situation arose. The team showed maturity, it’s not easy to go after the game with that conviction. The first half ends, and you manage to turn it around. That’s when I saw a strong team, just like at the start of the second half. We never lost our composure, we were playing well with the 3-1 lead, and then finished the job. They were able to stay strong. The goals came differently compared to last week, and we need to manage situations behind the defence better. They got close on the scoreboard, then the corner. The team showed a lot of personality and did many things well. We were lucky to play at home, the atmosphere at La Rosaleda pushes you to fight. Congratulations to the fans, we always play with more than 11 on the field, and that’s very positive.”
Deserving winners
“We take away the feeling from the final moments, although as coaches we like to control everything more. We are deserving winners, we played a good game. We dominated the match, which gave us the chance to have twice as many shots as they did. That’s why you score five goals and win the game. Joaquín, this isn’t just about today, now it’s more spectacular with the assist and the goal. He’s putting in great performances. We are a chameleon-like team, we cause a lot of damage, and we’re able to transition well. We dominate many aspects of the game, and that puts you in situations like the one we saw today.”
No barriers
“Barriers are meant to be removed, there aren’t any. We didn’t set point limits three months ago, and we won’t now. We want to enjoy every match, and that will take us wherever it needs to. I’m excited about playing good football and continuing to enjoy the games. When we were in the relegation zone, people talked to me about a barrier we crossed today, that limits you, and you have to remove it. We’re aware of the difficulty of winning away from home, Cádiz have momentum with their coaching change, and teams run more in the first games of this situation. We know it’s tough, and we have to focus on bringing a good result. Making a difference away from home is harder, but we have to try.”
Going for the win in Cádiz
“We are contenders to win in Cádiz. Once that match is over, we focus on the next one. That’s what has brought us here, if you start thinking about other things, you get distracted. I’ll accept the word contender, but the goal is to win in Cádiz.”