Athletic pays a visit to the leader’s field tomorrow. Iraia Iturregi, coach of the rojiblanco team, is aware of what awaits her team at the Johan Cruyff from 12 noon. In addition to talking about the meeting, the Biscayan technician dedicated a few words to Alexia Putellas, winner of the 2021 Ballon d’Or.
“I have known Alexia since I was 15-16 years old because I have faced her many times. This award is the reward for the great work that she has done, that the team has also done. I was very happy because for me Alexia is the most complete player there is, she is a very good player in all phases of the game, ”says the Athletic coach.
Iraia is clear that “on a sporting level it is a well-deserved award and on a personal level, off the field, Alexia transmits professionalism to me, a lot of humility, ambition, personality… Everyone is happy that they have given him that award because it is highly deserved and he is a person who transmits the values of sport in a very broad way ”.
Regarding the match itself against the leader, the rojiblanca coach remarks that “we are all aware of the difficulty that this match entails. We are facing the best team in Europe and I would dare to say that right now the best team in the world. I have been watching top-level women’s football for twenty-some years and I have never seen a team as complete as Barça today. It is the excellence in football at the moment ”.
Iraia preferred to pull pragmatism before the duel against the Catalans. “I don’t know what chances there are of scoring, but we have to focus on the ones that exist and that will come from when we are at our best both in offense and defense. We must focus on doing things in a perfect way to be able to get something positive from the Johan ”.
Barça counts practically all of its victories in the League by thrashing. Iraia points out in this regard that “I’m not going to go into the dressing room to tell them we’re going to see if they score us, I don’t know how many fewer goals. The reality is that Barça has an average of six goals per game, but we cannot go with that mentality. The objective will be to go and beat Johan, if it cannot be tied and if during the game we see that we have to change the objectives, we will change them. We are thinking positively ”.
Iraia counts for this match with the losses due to technical decision of Nekane and Erika and of Monente due to injury. “Both Neka and Erika have completed the training week, although they will be left out of the squad because we consider that they still lack a little more training rhythm.”
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