The coach of the Granada, Diego Martinez, said his team did this Thursday in Naples “A brutal survival exercise” to go to the round of 16 of the Europa League despite losing 2-1 in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
“We must congratulate all the players, it has been an exercise in brutal survival,” said Diego Martínez before recalling that they started the game without the Venezuelan Darwin Machís, injured in the warm-up, and that during the clash they lost due to injury to the French Maxime gonalons, to Carlos Neva and a German Sanchez.
“On top of that we received a goal in minute 2, but we didn't break down. This team, regardless of the circumstances, competes and has soul, character and personality ”, added the coach after the clash on Gol Televisión.
“The competitive spirit of the team makes us feel very proud,” added Diego, who confirmed that players who came in from the bench like Jesús Vallejo or Roberto Soldado “were for ten minutes or fifteen at most and have risked playing.”
The Galician explained that in the face of so much adversity it was “very difficult to maintain the proposal” with which they wanted to “face the game”, which was “that of the first part”, in which they had “possession, chances and personality”.
The coach believes that the equalizer, scored by Ángel Montoro, It was “deserved” and then “everything” happened to them, insisting that they had to play with “the first team footballers who were available and not all one hundred percent”.
“In all the pools in Europe we were out after the draw, but we showed that we are capable of competing in any circumstance and that we have brutal competitiveness,” he said.
Diego He showed his joy “for all the people of Granada” since “they have seen how this team is capable of exploring roads and trails for which it had not traveled in ninety years.”
“The grenade he has honor, spirit and values with which anyone in football feels identified ”, concluded the rojiblanco coach.