José María Giménez, scorer of the first goal of the match and the only one for the rojiblancos against Sevilla FC on the penultimate league matchday, spoke at the end of the match. The Uruguayan defender, frustrated by the tie harvested in the last minutes against the team from Sevillealso spoke about the farewell of his compatriot Luis Suárez.
Valuation: “It’s always nice to score at home, but this is not the result we were looking for. Sevilla wanted to draw, not just Sevilla… Hopefully next year, just as they give us talks, there will be talks with others, because there really are things that are not understood. I can’t talk much, because what happens later happens. I always respect everyone, all the workers in this sport, but there are things that are unbearable. Hopefully next year it will be more dynamic, different. Let there be no fear of making mistakes. And for us, hopefully this season that is leaving will serve as an experience to achieve important goals.”
For whom do you say the “fear of being wrong”?: “For no one.”
And what about Seville?: “What did you want to tie?”
Tribute to Luis Suarez: “Today it would have been nice if he had scored the goal, because it’s the last game at home and against the people.”
Bittersweet feeling this season?: “Yes”.
Later he attended the media in the press room
Suárez leaves, what has he taught you?
It’s easy to say what you learn from a player like Luis who has really won almost everything and just seeing him really makes you realize so many things. I never saw him want not to play, for example. He taught me a lot, like the way he competes, very self-critical, always thinking about improving despite his age, he always thinks above all about the team, about leaving the maximum, about progressing and he is a goalscorer. From there I can learn little about football, because I don’t have it, he’s a nine and I’m a center back. Thank him, because in two years he left a lot here, a way of seeing things, an example for us, for the younger ones, and I think that both his and Héctor’s farewell was deserved. Héctor is a colleague that I never saw angry, with a bad face, always happy, committed, professional… they are players that you always want to have in the squad, they help you and make everything easier. Eternally thank both him and Luis, who have given everything for the club.
What does the goal mean?
The truth is that I needed a joy like that, because I’ve had a bad time. I want to dedicate it to my family, who were always there and supported me and know how difficult it has been for me on occasions like when I have had to get injured. I dedicate it to my children, who always ask me, ‘Dad, did you score a goal?’ I always say no and today I can say yes. I needed an internal relief like that.
What did he mean by the phrase of the talks?
It has been such a strange and difficult year for everyone and the referees have been so targeted in every action they have taken, every game decision, that they have never been allowed to referee in peace. They work not only with the pressure of the game, which is not easy with 22 players drilling, and after a decision is judged too much, that’s why I always said that I would not like to be a referee. With my hand on my heart, I admire them, it’s a complex job, but in many games it has been fearful, no, but you do have doubts about how to deal with a situation when they are the ones running the game. I would like them to be left alone so that they can have a quiet job and make the best decision for the game and the show. So much that is judged is difficult for an arbitrator. To whistle a game when the potatoes burn, as we say in Uruguay. Hopefully next season they will be calmer and can make decisions without fear of being wrong and what the other may say.
How are injuries treated?
I think there is nothing I can do now to try to avoid injuries. This year I had two, the hamstring for trying to be in Porto and the soleus, which I did not expect when I returned from the last break. But I assure you that I have tried everything, from physiotherapy, hyperbaric chamber, dry ice… it is a matter of the head. It’s not easy for a player to enter a game, do a 60-meter sprint without thinking about what happened in previous games and with professional help you try to work on it and work on your head, which is a very important part of the problems that you can have.
Practically all the players have shown less level than last year.
It was an irregular season, complex for us, where we never found the stability of competition. We lower the level. I think it also happens to be champions last year. We thought we were going to continue riding the wave and I think we relaxed a little bit in some situations, games… at times when it was when you had to be stronger. Nélson told us the other day that there are years that you earn and others that you learn, I think you have to learn from everything. In the Champions League we compete like lions and in the League we don’t find that stability to fight for the championship. Everyone looking inward, we have to face next season wanting to improve and remember the one that was good, the one from LaLiga. A lot of desire, illusion to achieve important things.