The centre-forward speaks about the difficulty of playing at the Ciudad de Valencia Stadium: “We’ve never had very good away results against Levante at their ground, but it’s a new season and we’ve got new players now. We all know how well Levante play football, and the motivation of both teams will be a real factor on the pitch on Saturday. This is a six-point match, with Levante being a direct rival to us, so we need to perform as well as we possibly can in order to win.”
Weligton has been training separately from the rest of the group over the past few days. He’s been suffering with a left adductor muscle contracture, and explains the origin of the injury and how he is now: “The muscle became inflamed during the match against Mallorca. I tried to train normally last week, but I wasn’t 100 per cent match fit. This week, the doctor and I decided that I should stop normal training, however I hope to return to the group tomorrow and see how I get on.”
The team captain analyses the Club’s recent decisions in a positive light: “Within the constraints the Club is experiencing at the moment, I think they’ve made the right decisions. In terms of financial responsibility, the sale of Monreal was a good move for the Club, taking advantage of the chance to honour their commitments.”
The Brazilian-born centre-forward assesses the incorporation of Lugano into the ‘Malaguista’ team during the January transfer window: “It’s always good to strengthen the team and our competitiveness. We needed to reinforce this position on the pitch, particularly as we were taking part in three competitions. It was important that we increase the level of quality in our game play, and the Club has been working hard to achieve that.”
Finally, the ‘Malaguista’ is proud that his teammate Isco made his debut with Spain’s first team yesterday: “Isco has proved time and again what a quality player he is in the lower ranks, in the League, in European football, and it was his dream to play in Spain’s first team. It’s an absolute pleasure for us that he’s representing his country, and we hope that yesterday’s match will be the first of many for Isco as part of ‘La Roja’.”