Schuster says: “Levante UD is a team that has everything. They played a great game at the Calderón recently, and are very strong at their home ground. However tomorrow is another game, and the finer details will decide the winner tomorrow night. Levante make things difficult for their rivals, as they have a lot of experienced players, and quick movers upfront. I’ve got a feeling it’ll be an exciting match on Sunday.”
The Blue and Whites’ coach continues: “I would have liked to have played Roque Santa Cruz more in recent games, but I can see he’s recovered from injury now. I believe starting with Roque and then bringing Juanmi on later will work well. Roque’s style of play commands respect from the rival defence and he works well with the ball, along with Juanmi who has other great skills on the pitch. We’ll have more speed with Eliseu than we’d have with Antunes,” comments Schuster.
There are quite a few changes and new additions to the line-up, such as Málaga’s latest recruit, Páblo Pérez – who won’t be able to play – and Roberto Chen, as well as Jesús Gámez and Eliseu who recovered from injury at the last minute: “The idea is that Pablo comes with us to get to know his teammates more and watch them in action, as I hope he’ll be available to play next week. Jesús and Eliseu have both recovered and I hope we can count on them tomorrow; the Club physiotherapists and doctors have done a fantastic job. With regards to Chen, he’s definitely an option, so we’ll see what happens. He’s been training well this week. Having every player available is certainly very positive.”
With regards to the newest addition to the Blue and Whites, Pablo Pérez, Schuster analyses his first week in training: “He’s been working hard and getting the swing of things bit by bit. We know what he’s capable of, although he needs to improve on various aspects of his game play. He works very well with the ball and his teammates. People say he’s a bit of a ‘bad boy’ out on the field, which I hope is true, as sometimes we can be a little too ‘nice’.”
Speaking of new signings, the Blue and Whites’ coach adds: “Pablo is sufficient for now, however another player could join the squad to help us improve. We’ve got a stable team at the moment, but by improving our performance in certain positions, we could have a very good second round. If any new players do join us, it’ll be one or two more in upfront attacking positions.”
