The coach sees “the game in Zaragoza as important due to the situation that Real Zaragoza are also in in the standings. (Winning) would get us closer to getting out of the danger zone. I’m looking at the remaining points. The team has to reach April with all expectations intact, as that is what the competition will offer us,” Mel stated.
Regarding the absence of Gallar in the squad list, “we’ve introduced him to the group doing different jobs to make it easier for him. We’ve not included him in the squad list as he has to be with his wife, then we can count on him for the match against Ponferradina,” he said.
Mel made a parallel between the next rival and his team: “Zaragoza and Málaga are close. Real Zaragoza are a historic club, with Copas del Rey, many achievements, and have been in the Second Division for 10 or 11 years in a row. They are a good mirror to look at ourselves. You have to have a robust foundation for this team to become stronger and not have ups and downs. It's a nice job making this team strong over time.”
“The first key match we’re facing is this one. We were unlucky in Cartagena, everything went against us in Oviedo... Since I've been here, the first time we had good luck was in Ibiza, in the Copa del Rey. You have to start somewhere, to try and turn this around,” continued the manager.
Finally, he defined himself as “a club man, honest and sincere in what I do. If I thought that Málaga couldn’t do it, I would have submitted my resignation and I’d be honest with the people who are at this club. They went to Sevilla with all the enthusiasm in the world to hire me. I'm going to work as hard as I can and I know how to, because I think we can get out of this,” Mel concluded.
