Pellegrini’s statements:
(Baptista out). “The squad’s good, and in terms of the injured players we know we have Baptista, Weligton and Apoño out; Eliseu had a knock but he’s OK. Not having Julio Baptista will always be a serious setback, but we try to structure the campus to replace players who have problems during the season. These things often happen in all squads. They have done everything possible but he has not been able to recover.”
(League break) “You never know if the break is good or bad. Last time we came back weaker and we hope this time it’ll be different. Ruud has come to play a role, we know what he is capable of giving, we’ll make the assessment at the end of the year and I have full confidence in him in every way. I’m backing the squad and there are various variants that depend on many things. They all have the same possibilities.”
(Captain) “Yes, Duda will remain captain after assessing various factors. They are decisions that I make on my own and I don’t have to give more explanations. It's a decision I make for many reasons and today Duda is the captain.”
(Internationals) “It's always important to have many international players in the squads; the performances are varied: Seba’s goal going to come good, but what matters is their performance here to show why they’re there in the national squads.”
(Racing). “A very complicated team, who have had few goals and a draw with Real Madrid; they’re not an easy opponent, we prepared to encounter a difficult, close, game tomorrow, where the difference will be minimal. It’s better playing at the weekend, a week is long, but someone has to play on Monday and this time it came to us.”
(Style) “Everyone when they win their style is better, when they lose they start to find style problems. I prefer a team that plays good football and one that takes possession. The show is all about goals; the first thing people want is to win, the second is goals, more the better.”
(Winter transfer window). “I'm not denying or affirming any names, there has been no meeting about this subject. Guti? There has been no attempt to hold meetings to bring anyone or anybody. ¿Portillo, Juanmi and Recio? They’re all absolutely counted on . In my opinion, it is more important to train with players here than to send them on loan to Second Division team, let’s see if at the end of the year feel one feels like going out but the intention is that the entire campus remains here.”
(Europa). “Hopefully we can get to Europe, it would be very good objective but there is an imposition. We must build the base in many aspects of the Club, such as levelling-out the squad, like other teams, to reach Europe. To achieve these objectives, the Club needs to develop and we are making a global plan. My goal, and that of the players, is to play in Europe, but the goal of the institution is bigger than playing for just a year in Europe. We are developing a team to can play in Europe every year. We are in Europe and it is always important to be in the top six places. There’ve been good and bad moments, but we maintain consistency in what we are looking for, and that’s not goingt o change for a positive or negative result. Reaching the top I believe is always feasible, we remain in that position now and there has been no change in what I have spoken since last June when we started.”