Change of dynamic in the second half
“Now this is a euphoric moment. We’re delighted with how the second half went, it was great. The first wasn’t so great, it was a struggle for us. The team started out well; attacking, taking a corner, but the rival initiated a combinative action from the inside. Zaragoza is a team that plays very well inside, accumulating a lot of players there. This was one of the factors we prepared for this match, yet we were caught out in that risky gameplay that we also have. They were accurate, they surpassed us in an individual action. They did us considerable damage as the team’s spirits were down, which caused a great deal of concern. We played a very hasty first half, with many losses, with little continuity in the possessions we had, the team allowed Zaragoza to seek possibilities inside, but they didn’t generate too many clear chances. With our speedy style of play, we had the odd opportunity. We’re not happy with the first 45 minutes, Zaragoza played better, they imposed their game. We knew we were up against a very tough rival, who has won four out of their last five games. The match certainly wasn’t easy. We rebuilt ourselves at half-time, organised ourselves, and managed to get the team to believe again and have more capacity to be stronger with the ball and play in the rival half. From there came the superb second half, which we dominated with possession and prevented Zaragoza from showing their strengths as they did in the first half”.
Be prepared for adversity
“Many things can happen in football matches, within those things we try to make as few of them as possible adverse, but they do happen. We must be prepared to resolve adverse situations. In the last match we were a man down for 60 minutes, yet the team recovered without any problem. Today we found ourselves trailing on the scoreboard, so it was a little more of a struggle”.
Fans played a key role
“It’s the moment of truth and the fans responded very well against adversity such as we saw in the first half today. We cannot say anything other than thank you to the fans. They helped the team in some of the most important moments of doubt and uncertainty in the first half, which was crucial. They really got behind the lads in the second half as the team came out with great personality, character and courage, which really engaged the fans. The unity between the team and the supporters is extremely positive and means such a lot during the moment of truth”.
