The coach reviews the 1-1 draw. “We weren’t interpreting it well and the system had to be changed. Those 10 minutes that passed between the first and the third were not clear. From there, the team was good, organised and that's where the goal stemmed from. We were up against a good team, and we stood up to them throughout, except for a few oversights. We were in the game, we created problems for them, a difficult team in this division,” he stated.

“The spectators will have liked the game, we both needed to win, and we both went for it. The result was 1-1, but it could have been 2-2 or 3-3. The penalty? The referee decided it was a penalty and the VAR called. I’m not going to discuss what is decided in Madrid on what the referee has seen one metre away. It annoys me that no one has talked about the foul on Fran Sol in Valencia, it went unnoticed, and the VAR should be there,” he continued.

In regard to names, Mel was clear: “We have to recover the best Luis Muñoz. He and N'Diaye have to be at the level of Fran (Villalba) and Febas. Luis is not 100 per cent. He has to help us, even more so by being the team captain.” In terms of the team: “The road is very long and we’re three points away, which is nothing. We need to move forward and link two good results,” he added.

Next up is the match in Ibiza. “We’ll go with the attitude of Zaragoza, Valencia and today. The players know what’s at stake in Ibiza, we know the kind of game it is and how we have to compete. We’ve played a good team, we stood up to them, we took the lead and overcame adversity. We are three points away. Málaga will get out of this situation, we have the tools to do it, the players on the pitch say so,” he said.

In regard to Castro’s goal: “Rubén is that player. I've been with him for 10 years and he can up end the whole game without touching the ball and score a great goal. Today he scored and also defended. The penalty was a shame, it would have been the icing on the cake. We went all out to win the game. We put Loren on, who is a young player I love. Either you went up there bravely or you kept what you had, and we decided to be brave,” he concluded.