José Alberto López, Málaga CF coach, featured in a press conference at La Rosaleda’s Juan Cortés press room following the 2-2 draw with Real Sporting.
Firstly, he stated “the fans will leave happy with what they’ve seen, yet unhappy with the result.” The Asturian coach added that “we did everything to win.” He confessed that “we were unfairly losing at half-time. Whilst we were trailing 1-2, it felt as though we could have equalised at any moment. I saw a super intense team with and without the ball, that generated a great deal of football and I saw the Málaga I want to see every weekend.” He ended his first answer by saying “I’m annoyed as we lost two points today.”
In reference to the players back on the pitch today, he commented: “We’ve recovered some players and also had top-level reinforcements on the bench. The five that went on contributed to the team.” José Alberto added: “We’ve gone back to being what we were for a large part of the season. We played good football, were superior in generating chances and we were intense without the ball. In the first half, Sporting passed twice from their own half, which speaks well of our team.” Málaga CF managed to come back after trailing before half-time: “Following the goal the team went all out to win. I’m left with their reaction, coming from behind twice, insisting, not letting nerves get the better of them and with the right degree of calm to be able to progress.”
In regard to the debut of the two latest signings, Febas and Vadillo, he stated: “Febas had to go on without warming up due to Juande’s discomfort. He played 45 minutes at a high level. Dynamic, vertical, always wanting the ball. We saw that last pass and arrival from Álvaro. These coming weeks will serve for us to refresh these concepts and help the new players adapt.”
Lastly, he conveys a message of optimism: “Playing like this we’ll lose very few points, this has to be the way forward. If we don’t manage to win, then at least the fans will be proud of us. We want to be an intense, dominating team that recovers quickly and attacks again. Today we were a team that I love, and I can see myself reflected in it.”
