The Malaguista coach held a press conference following #MálagaMirandés in the Juan Cortés press room at La Rosaleda. “I’m very happy with what I saw, especially in the first half, this is the Málaga we want”, he said.
José Alberto showed his dissatisfaction with the result, claiming his team deserved a win. “In the first half we deserved at least one goal. It would have changed the whole aspect of the game”, said the Malaguista coach.
Despite this, the atmosphere in the stands was a highlight and he was very happy to see the fans back in the stands: “I haven't felt that unity between the supporters and the team for such a long time. It was special. It gave us the boost we needed at times to ensure they didn’t leave their area”, he stated.
The Malaguista coach didn’t miss the opportunity to talk about his team’s performance: “I didn't think we were going to be at this level at this point. We played with seven players from The Academy. I’m very happy with what I saw, especially in the first half, this is the Málaga we want. We went as far as our legs allowed”.
He went on to highlight the performance of Málaga CF within the complexity and equality of LaLiga SmartBank. “It’s very difficult in this category, against any rival, to generate as many opportunities as we did in the first half. The fans leave La Rosaleda today with a 0-0 draw, but proud of what they saw from their team”.
Discussing the presence of fans in the stands, he commented: “We can’t wait to experience a game with a capacity crowd after what I saw today. How they pushed the team, and that union between the team and the supporters. We want then to be proud of what they see and get behind the team”.
In regard to Kevin’s debut in the category, José Alberto is pleased with his performance. “He went out, played a good game and now his hard work, perseverance and consistency will be what will keep him going. We’re very happy, he deserved it, we chose him for the line-up as we were clear about the game he was going to play. He was decisive”, said the Asturian coach.
In the final minutes of play, the referee disallowed Hassan’s goal due to a prior foul on Juande. In light of this situation, the Blue and White coach stated: “The foul on Juande is very clear. It was seen by VAR, which is what it’s there for, which led to the goal being disallowed”.