The Malaguista coach held a press conference this Friday before the Copa del Rey round of 32 match against Real Sociedad on Sunday at 21:00: “It's not a party; the competitive tension is going to be good for us and even more so for our fans,” he said.
Rival - Real Sociedad
“They have a highly established project, they are playing in the Champions League and have only lost three games in the league; they are a benchmark side. The people are behind the team and we’ll compete to the max. This Cup match is different, we have a clean week and everyone wants to play. It’s a privilege to wear the Málaga shirt, we have a club with a lot of history in a difficult situation. We will prepare a competitive match in front of our fans. Up to now 19.000 tickets have been sold. We’ll compete to the maximum and, no matter what happens, make people feel proud of how we have competed.”
Competitive tension, key to growth
“The Cup match is good for us as there will be teams that are resting and we are going to have competitive tension. It's not a party, the important thing is that we compete well against a Champions-level rival. We’ll make the necessary adjustments and see how we can compete, knowing that the priority is the match against Ceuta. We have competed and come through against rivals of lower and higher categories. Now we have one more step, the important thing is the league, but we are going to compete.”
Recovery of players
“With the exception of Ramón and Haitam, everyone is training. When you are injured, getting back to competition is a process to be able to compete one hundred percent. Juande and Juan Hernández entered yesterday for the first time and Nelson had surgery a month and three days ago. Manu and Juanpe have already participated. It will be good for us to compete this weekend. The competitive tension is going to be good for us and even more so for our fans.
Options of going through to the next round
“The percentage will depend on what we do. We are up against a high level, threatening rival. The Champions teams like Málaga because of the stadium, the people and the connections. Beyond the fact that we are a rival, we can earn respect, playing in this environment is better than going to other stadiums.”
Feeling of closeness with the fans
“The best reinforcement is the fans so that we realise the feeling and the people we have behind us in every game. There is a lot of closeness, we are showing what we can do in the tough times, even though only competing and winning will do. We are normal people and the players have to convey that.”