Tenerife, deceptive bottom team
“We need to empathise a lot because I expect the same Tenerife I saw just 12 days ago. A team that is aggressive, intense, with a distinct identity under Pepe Mel, with plenty of experience in the division, and that competed for 70 minutes with a man down. This shows that they are a deceptive bottom team. At the start of the year, we would have said Tenerife would be at the top. They are an aggressive, dynamic team that likes to attack in the opponent’s area. They’ve also been unlucky with injuries and other circumstances, and we need to be careful because pain fuels them, and I want that fuel for my players. I saw it the year we had only 18 players, and we have to be cautious. If anyone hasn’t seen the Tenerife-Zaragoza game, they should watch it to see how tough it’s going to be for us.”
Very difficult game
“We need to start the game very strong because they are going to demand a lot from us. These are weeks where everything happens very quickly, but we need to focus on what we will face: an opponent that will challenge us a lot, and we will have to manage the situations in the match. We've had these draws that could have gone our way, but what I want most is for the team to continue with the positive momentum and for us to secure the three points. It’s going to be a tough battle, the hardest we’ve had so far. How we start the game will be very important, and we need to know how to control the emotional management, both ours and theirs.”
Week with two matches
“It’s a special week, special because we’re playing for 6 points in 4 days and we have an empty injury room, except for Haitam. It’s the first time I have so many healthy players, and I have to leave 3 players behind. We need to manage the effort levels, with more analytical training and load management. We will stay overnight there, so tomorrow we will have the last video session, then the match, and return on Friday. We will train on Saturday to prepare for the match against Eibar. Right now, we’re only thinking about Tenerife.”
The schedule is no excuse
“The schedule is what it is, it’s set, and fortunately, we don’t have any injured players. But if it happens at another time, it can be a bit more troublesome. That’s how the schedule is, and we have to accept it, it can’t be an excuse. This is a good opportunity for the players who haven’t been as involved to step up and take on more responsibility. The final test is the match, and I want to see the version of them that I see in training.”
Tenerife and Eibar, this week’s rivals
“First, we have this match. They are two completely different games, with two different profiles and two different scenarios, but the important one is tomorrow. Tenerife is in a critical situation, but they played very well the other day, and their coach has a lot of experience.”