MADRID, 6 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The RCD Espanyol coach, Diego Martínez, has assured that there was “a game before and after the expulsion” of Leandro Cabrera in this Sunday’s duel against Atlético de Madrid (1-1), and considers that the point achieved in the Cívitas Metropolitano is “deserved”, in addition to inviting its players to activate “the ‘survival mode’ between now and the end of the season”.
“I do not make assessments neither when the action can benefit us nor when it harms us. It is what the referee whistles, we have to adapt. Yes, it is true that there is a game before the expulsion and after. Before the expulsion, we came out as we wanted , perhaps we lacked a little bit of continuity,” he declared at a press conference.
In this sense, he insisted that the team “little by little was getting better with the ball”, until Cabrera was expelled. “The game was going more or less where we wanted, and after the expulsion we have to adapt. We have to value the effort, commitment and organization that the team has had for so long against such good players and against a team that He has a lot of resources and he pushes until the end,” he said.
However, the Galician coach considers that the draw is fair. “They have also had options. We have had options, a lot of generosity, knowing how to compete, but they had alternatives and were able to score goals. You have to assess things objectively. It is a point that we have earned hard and that we have deserved”, manifested.
“This Espanyol has shown many different versions in the development of the game. The best thing today is adaptation, responding to a very difficult situation in which any team would have thrown in the towel mentally. The team continued there, even scoring 0- 1, a magnificent goal. From then on you have to suffer, you have to resist, and sometimes the only way to win those games with a point is like this, which doesn’t seem to me particularly the identity of Espanyol that we want”, he continued.
In addition, he did not want to enter to assess the emergencies of the rojiblanco team. “When the result is not what you want, you rush in, but it’s a great team with very good players and an excellent coach, it’s a stadium that puts a lot of pressure, at two in the afternoon… It wasn’t easy for us. About all for the entity of the rival, which is one of the greats”, he pointed out.
Finally, Martínez appealed to maintain this level of alert until the end of the championship. “We have to maintain the ‘survival mode’ between now and the end of the season. That sharpens commitment and concentration. We are at the beginning of a process, there have been many changes, and we want to continue growing as a team, and that gives you matches like today,” he concluded.