Statements by Pellegrini
Fulfilled our objectives
“We’re extremely happy to achieve Champions League qualification. It’s so important for the team, and let’s hope that this has now set a precedent for future seasons. It was an honour to see Ruud retire here at Málaga, Hélder Rosario’s contract has also expired, and with regards to the others, nothing has been decided”.
Balanced growth
“Things happened as I expected them to, despite the number of injured players we had throughout the season. It was a great satisfaction to see how well the team handled the various complications, I’m so proud of them. We’re all working hard, and everything depends on the growth of the Club, and the level of growth in a project which has been underway for 18 months. The team isn’t going to be any bigger than this year, and any reserve player could be playing in the pre-season with us”.
Season of Champions
“We had a great victory against Sporting, we knew what we had to do, and we did it. I think we had a lot of unfair defeats in away matches over the season, but out of 20 teams, I think being in fourth place is right for us. Playing in Champions with Real Madrid was the norm, however it was quite unexpected when I was with Villareal, and now Málaga have done it”.
Baptista
“I can’t really analyse his performance, he only played four matches, but we won each one. He was very unlucky, and we all know how important Julio is. I hope he is back to full fitness for the pre-season”.
Happy at Málaga CF
“We arrived here to help the growth of the Club in every aspect, and the demands are even higher in the Champions League. I’m contracted here for another three years, I’m very happy here, and will of course continue with Málaga. Possible signings? There are rumours, but first we need to end this season. None of the names that have arisen have been of interest to us. President? It was important he was there for the final stage of the season, and he’s very happy”.
MCF now
“We’ll be in preparation from the very first day. What were hopes and dreams before are now our obligation. Everything will depend on the performance of the team. Repercussions? The most important thing is that we’re happy with what we’re doing, pleased with our performance, and that we’ve qualified for Champions. The team played very good football in a lot of the games this year, and now we need to find more of a balance. Ruud’s departure has seen the need to find a brilliant player as his replacement”.
Next season
“We know what positions we’ll need to strengthen. As we’ll be playing a lot more matches, the younger players will be on the pitch more. Juanmi and Portillo for example, although they’ve not played very many games, they’ve both had the opportunity to learn a lot. The team made a significant investment last year, we’ll look at how many players we’ll need, but there will be less. It’s difficult to say, but I wouldn’t think more than four, not six or eight as was said previously”.
