Firstly, Manuel Pellegrini stresses the importance of tomorrow’s game against Atlético de Madrid: “Atlético have had a great season up to now, they’re second in the table and are playing their matches with an immense level of conviction and intensity. I don’t think I can highlight just one, however Diego Costa is a quality player who is performing very well at the moment, but every member of their team is a great player. It’s not for me to evaluate their performance, but for us, as always, to focus on our game play. I don’t think Porto and Atlético are similar rivals at all. For now, the most important thing is to maintain our position in the League.”
The ‘Malaguista’ coach addresses the competition between the teams all vying for European football next season: “There are six or seven teams all directly in the fight for Europe next year. As has occurred in recent years, the winners will be decided by just one or two points. We are absolutely determined to be in the top four and get to Europe next season. I don’t see Málaga as favourite however, as there are other stronger teams in the running including Athletic, Sevilla and Valencia. We’ve still got a way to go yet.”
Following the two consecutive defeats against Porto and Betis, Manuel Pellegrini is confident the team will return to winning ways: “When you lose a match, it’s tough to regain a positive spirit over the week. We’re very conscious of the games we’ve lost, but football changes week after week. We’re hoping to return to the same winning form we’ve shown for the majority of the season. We’re still in a top spot in the League, and we’ve got the Champions second leg at home, in which we’re just 1-0 down. I’m confident we can get back to the high level we were at before.”
Finally, the Chilean-born coach is hopeful that the team can perform well, despite the injured players: “As coach, any injured player makes your job a lot more difficult. The more players there are available to play, the easier it is for the coach to decide the line-up. We’ve got some important players injured at the moment, but we’ve come through this before at other times throughout the season.”