Visit to Granada
“The step up in quality in this division comes from winning away from home. That’s the big challenge. There have been matchdays when no one has managed to win away. Games have to be played. This week is special for me. We’re going to try to win every match, and this one too. What concerns me is being able to play well, not letting a setting like Granada hold us back from giving our best version. You can win or lose, but we have to keep focusing on those actions that bring you closer to victory.”
Andalusian celebration
“I hope what’s happened in recent occasions happens again. The last matches against Granada have been a celebration of football, with great camaraderie between the fans. It can be very special, we have the example of Córdoba. There, we felt our supporters very strongly, it felt as if we were at La Rosaleda. We experienced it with great excitement. It’s a good day, a good kick-off time, and hopefully we’ll have a lot of people with us, because that’s very important.”
Granada CF
“We’re facing a great team that still has everything to play for. They have a coach and players of First Division quality. They offer an attractive style of play, and in recent weeks they’ve shown improvement in defence. At home, that’s helping them remain a very solid side. Every match has its difficulty, especially against a club of Granada’s stature.”
Hundred days in the dugout
“When you set out to live week by week, everything that happens afterward doesn’t bring you either excessive joy or frustration. It’s about being able to live in the present moment. These hundred days are something I’ve enjoyed tremendously. There’s still a lot of work to be done and we must keep giving our best, this is just one step of what we’re capable of. Hopefully a hundred more like these will come, that would be great news.”
Special duel
“It’s very special, but because I’m going there with Málaga. Málaga was a personal commitment for me, a choice I made in my life, and any match with Málaga is very exciting. Hopefully it goes well so that what’s at stake afterward works in my favour.”
Ambition
“I didn’t ‘sell’ the idea of 50 points even when we were in the relegation zone, and I didn’t want to ‘buy’ into it because it would have made us mediocre. I said our ambition was to win every match. I didn’t believe in the 50-point target then, and I don’t now. It would put us in a position where we wouldn’t enjoy the games as much. Our objective is to be the best team possible in every match, and that’s what has allowed us to perform with joy and enthusiasm. Anything else doesn’t help.”