#MálagaAtleti analysis
“The Lacen action summarises the game. We showed heart, and found ourselves in a totally adverse match, against a team that doesn’t concede, and we went a goal down within the first minute following an unfortunate play. They launched a throw-in to the area, and the clearance fell to a player with phenomenal definition. The same thing happened to us, deviated by Ricca, yet the ball sailed submissively into the hands of the rival keeper. This highlights the dose of good fortune that is sometimes needed. The match can be summed up with a wanting but not being able, however there was a lot of heart, and at times head. Roberto didn’t make any saves in the entire game. This speaks well of the team and how they competed against a very skilled and qualified rival. I don’t think today they showed they were sufficiently superior to beat us. We’re still missing out on that little bit of good luck needed to get us out of this situation. It’s becoming more distressing as the matches go on, as we’re not earning the three points. The 15 or 20 minutes after we conceded a goal, the team could have conveyed another sensation. A dead team would have given up in that situation, but we picked ourselves up and carried on. That makes me hopeful for the future. By playing like this we’ll win more than we lose. It’s not happening yet, but one day our luck has to change”.
Goal opportunities
“Coaches plan matches so that the opponent generates fewer goal chances than you. From then on, it depends on accuracy and luck. If we face a team like Atlético de Madrid, we know we’ll have to limit their goal chances further, as they have the quality to define. We need to increase ours, as they have the virtue of defending very well. I think both situations occurred. We defended well and created opportunities. Perhaps we missed out on certain shots, but we had numerous situations. Unfortunately, we didn’t convert, and that’s what football’s about, scoring goals and not conceding”.
Permanency
“Candidates for relegation are there because they are moulding their own path. You cannot think that permanency will be set at 20 points, as everyone will be scoring points and winning matches they’re not expected to. We’re not doing that. I’m worried about not winning. I’ve been here for four matches and I believe we should have more points. Maybe today we didn’t do enough to win, but we could certainly have gone level. We were deserving of that. We need to be realistic, we’ll wake up tomorrow morning knowing we’ve got a tough road ahead of us, and our future is in our hands”.
