Line-up
“We’ve got some casualties due to injury. We’re taking more players as there are some with the flu. En-Nesyri suffered a blow in the last match and is unable to travel with us. Plus, Adrián’s injury and sanction. Which is why we’ve got a lot of players. It’s clear to me how we’ll fix the defence. Ricca is in the line-up as he’s been training for nearly two weeks, and is a player we want back on the squad as soon as possible. He has certain physical difficulties, but it’s not going to prevent him playing, should we need to call him up, he never makes excuses”.
Calendar
“We’ve had little preparation time, it’s almost been just a theoretical preparation, but the players know what we need to do and how to do it. We’re not going to vary the approach too much, as it’s to do with our identity of play. What we need to change is the mentality and give the same level of importance we’ve given to matches in recent months, knowing the seriousness of the situation”.
Two hundred per cent
“We are aware that our competition is going to be very tough, and won’t allow us great joys, even if we win games like we did in San Sebastián. Our competition is to be at two hundred per cent, as otherwise we’ll move backwards which won’t benefit anyone”.
A victory against Alavés…
“It would mean we’d be on the right track. We can’t pass up any more opportunities, as we’re not in a position to do so. We’ve already missed several. That’s why I didn’t expect the situation we found ourselves in against Betis. I saw my team with sufficient stability for the result and the sensation of play to be different”.
Rival
“We expect a rebellious team, who will be strong and coming for us. Not because we’re a team in the same league as them, but because it’s an opportunity to revitalise. By the rankings, right now many of us would be going down as we’re not getting the necessary points. What they want to do is score points, as do we”.
Adrián’s sanction
“It seems ridiculous to me. To start with, the referee doesn’t know who he is. He sent off an assistant and he’s a player. It’s very clear that, without any aggression, without any harm done to any rival, he has a bigger sanction than any other player. I think it’s far too excessive that a player who was looking for his fifth yellow due to his injury, and was unable to play this match, will now be a month without playing. Regardless of the transcript of the act, the only thing that matters is the action of the player, and that all he did was to intentionally protest. It’s the same as always. This is nothing new for us this year. The schedules, the situations that are taking place…but when you protest nobody listens to you, yet they claim it’s an excuse to justify the results. That has nothing to do with it”.
