MADRID, 19 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Sociedad, Imanol Alguacil, highlighted his team’s options in the first match of the group stage of the Champions League, which will pit his team against Inter Milan, in which they are capable If they get “their best level”, they will be “close to winning”.
“I prefer to focus on what we can do, because if we are truly capable of getting the best out of our team, we are going to compete. And if we compete, we are going to be close to winning,” he declared in the pre-match press conference.
For Alguacil, the moment “is tomorrow” and he cares about always being well, “regardless of who is in front of him,” but he sees his team trained to do well. “It’s no use doing it one day, or doing it in moments, we need continuity, regularity to truly be a reliable team and a ‘top’ team,” he said.
The coach highlighted the “potential and dynamism” of the Italians, both when it comes to pressing and when playing the ball, which allows them to dominate in many different scenarios and adapt to rivals. “Many teams have played backwards against Inter and have not given them space and have fallen, and vice versa, others have been playing the ball and have also fallen,” he assessed.
“I prefer not to talk about Inter, because if we start talking about the strengths and the great players they are, someone will think ‘well, it’s better not to go out on the field’, and far from it, we have to be, more than ever, us ourselves, enjoy and go out to compete and try to win knowing what we have in front of us,” he remarked.
Despite it being the first match in the Champions League after 10 years and it is special, because it is done with players he has been with “from the reserve team”, he is clear that they can give a good image. “We have to enjoy, but enjoying is not going out and seeing what happens, enjoying is going out to compete and try to win knowing what we have in front of us,” he said.
In the Champions League they will face “the best”, so they must go out “with ambition and enthusiasm”, but thinking about winning and being “aware” of who they are in front of. “We all have to be clear about the potential that is in front of us, no matter who it is,” he stressed.
The Basque team has one of the most complicated groups in the competition, where in addition to Inter, the last runner-up, there is Benfica, which reached the quarterfinals. “Someone who only watches Real Sociedad and doesn’t care what happens outside doesn’t know it, but those of us who know about football obviously know the toughness and level of this group,” he highlighted.
Alguacil has “the great luck” of having more than twenty players available, although not all of them are “at their best physical level”, which allows him many game alternatives. “The only thing I think about is getting the best eleven possible, the best eleven possible, and tomorrow I’m going to do the same,” he argued.
The Reale Arena will be a key factor this Wednesday and the coach hopes that the Inter fans who come will leave “impressed.” “I hope that tomorrow, when the game ends, all the Italians who come will say, oh my god, these Gipuzkoans,” he concluded.