Statements from press conference
Tapia
“Any player in the lower category of a First Division Club, always dreams of playing in an official or friendly match. I was very pleased at being given the chance to play, and to keep working with Malagueño”.
“I play on the wing, but like to move upfront, without neglecting the defence. The number ‘6’ (Nymann) is a skilful player, it was complicated, but I did my best. I’ll keep playing with my team, Atlético Malagueño, and if the boss decides to select me for the team again, I’m ready”.
“During the last year as a young player in the Copa del Rey, I was injured, I broke my cruciate ligament, and was unable to play for 6-7 months. I recovered well, and after Bétis, came Málaga. I was so excited about it, the paperwork was completed, and I’m very happy”.
“Go up to Segunda B? We all work hard to get to the playoffs, and the team is concentrating on promotion to Segunda B, it’s our main objective”.
Sergio Sánchez
“I managed to recover sooner than expected, and I’m feeling great.
“We’ve achieved a good run of results, and are looking ahead to achieve another positive result (at the Bernabéu), although we know it’ll be a difficult game. Ronaldo is an important player for them, if I have to cover him, I’ll do the best I possibly can. He has the ability to unbalance a game, but the boss knows very well how to play against Madrid”.
“Jesús (Gámez) has been here for years and a great player, and now has me as healthy competition. As well as our friendship, we both understand that only one of us can play, he’ll make it hard for me, and I’ll do the same for him”.
“It would be wrong to focus everything around this match (Real Madrid). We need to be aware of other teams that are direct rivals, but in Madrid it’s a fight to the death. Toulalan is injured, if he can’t play, he’ll be replaced by someone else on the team, although he really wants to be part of the line up”.
“We need to concentrate on ourselves, irrespective of Madrid. Málaga’s strength is to play how we know how to play, regardless of the opponent. However not all of Real Madrid’s players are available, so they may not be at their best”.
“When we played in the Copa, and didn’t win, the team was disappointed as we were so close to victory. However we came out much stronger as we knew we played well in Madrid on their ground. It’s important to remember that. Score again? It would be great to score in this stadium, it’s one of the best”.