MADRID, 20 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of UD Almería, Gaizka Garitano, said this Saturday that his counterpart at Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, “is one of the best coaches in history”, and also “a gentleman” for having valued the Almeria team in the eve of their confrontation during matchday 21 in LaLiga EA Sports.
“It's normal,” Garitano resigned when he learned that the Madrid coach had barely been questioned by Almería in his press conference. “We are last, they are not going to ask much about us either. Ancelotti is one of the best coaches in history, and a gentleman at that. So it is normal that they ask little about us,” repeated the coach of the Almeria team.
“What we have to do is vindicate ourselves and compete tomorrow. I think we can do it, we have already shown it. We have to show it and have more people talk about us after the game than what has been said before. That is in our hands and we will see if we do it,” Garitano predicted in his own press conference.
He then gave few details about recently signed Serbian defender Aleksandar Radovanovic. “I'll tell you when he plays. It's the first day today. It's the profile we need, then we'll see the performance he gives us. I hope he gives us a good performance because the truth is that we needed to strengthen ourselves at the back, and even more so have a profile of a central defender left-handed, he meets the characteristics we needed,” he explained.
Asked again what it takes to win at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the Almería coach said that “everything has to come together a little bit.” “That we play a great game, in the same way that we did against Atlético de Madrid or against Barça. That we are in a very good version of ourselves and then that they don't have the day to get it right,” he argued.
In this sense, he defined Real Madrid as “a team that generates many scoring opportunities.” “The teams that have been in the game have always had that bit of luck that they haven't had their day offensively. In terms of generating, they are a team that has a lot of resources. That has to happen, that we are very good and that they don't make those chances that they normally have,” he insisted.
“We have already shown against this type of team that we are also capable of giving a good version, as was seen against Barcelona and against Atlético de Madrid, even against Girona. Those games are the reference that we were good and that we were on the verge of tying,” Garitano reiterated.
“Real Madrid is one of the best teams in the world, on a collective and individual level. We are going with all the enthusiasm in the world. We are not in a situation in which we can give away any game or save anything, we have to compete as we we did the other day; and if we compete well there and give a good version of ourselves, we will be in the game, that is clear to me, because we have already demonstrated it so far in any field we have played,” he stressed.
“We have played against Barcelona away, Atlético de Madrid away, the other day against the leader at home… And right now we are ready to compete against any team. Another thing is that we go to the Bernabéu and there we already know what there is, the superiority that they usually have over their rivals and the ability they have. But they will surely find themselves in a very complicated match,” he warned.
Meanwhile, he denied having “taken into account” the meringues' extra time in their recent Copa del Rey tie against Atlético de Madrid. “Those players and those teams win titles and they are there not only because they are good players, but because of two things: one is that they never relax, that they always play 100%, and that is why they win almost every game and win titles, because they are very competitive, they are competitive animals; and another, because their recovery processes are much faster than those we can have,” said Garitano.
“They played on Thursday, but it is not the same as if we had played. They are footballers of a very high physical level, who are used to playing on Sunday and Wednesday, because of the physique they have, they only recover in two days what it costs us. recover in five or six. That is why we expect a good Real Madrid, they will surely make rotations and have fresh people,” he warned in this regard.
Finally, Garitano avoided talking about his continuity. “Here I live day by day. Imagine with the results we are having and the situation we are in, I have never even thought about my future from the first day. The most important thing is the future of the team and I am living day by day. “Today I am here preparing for tomorrow's game, but I don't think about much further. I would like to turn this around, win games and be able to continue here, but I know that that means winning games and we haven't done it yet,” he concluded honestly.