MADRID, 26 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Athletic Club, Marcelino García Toral, has not revealed whether this Sunday against FC Barcelona he will rotate players for the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals at Mestalla, and has stated that although there is “a considerable difference” in rest between Both teams are not worried, emphasizing that the duel against the azulgranas is “the most important because it is immediate”.
“I wasn’t paying attention to Valencia’s line-up, but there is a considerable difference. Valencia has a four-day interval between one game and another and we have a game tomorrow at nine at night. We only have 48 hours to recover. That will give you gives a wider range of possibilities,” he declared at a press conference.
“We see this first game as the most important, because it is immediate. The immediate is always the most important. We will try to ensure that, from a physical point of view, the team can perform at the highest level in both games”, he continued, confirming that he has recovered to Nico Williams.
In this sense, he affirmed that they are “in inferiority” due to the fact that they have less time. “Once we have to focus and solve this situation, it doesn’t influence us that Valencia plays Friday or Saturday. We look at ourselves and from here you have to try to make the best possible decisions. We are not aware of whether we have to rotate or not, let’s all go. Some will play more and others less, “he warned.
On the other hand, the Asturian coach spoke about his history of confrontations against the culé team, which he has beaten in two finals -with Valencia and Athletic Club-. “It means that our career as a coaching staff is beginning to be long and that we have faced each other many times in the Cup. It may be that it is the team that I have faced the most times. By the law of probabilities, the less you achieve something, the closer you are to getting the opposite”, he explained.
“I arm myself with optimism to think that we are close to victory. In the League, victory eluded us at specific moments, sometimes even cruelly. We have to focus on the present; they are in very good shape and we too,” he analyzed.
About the azulgranas, he assured that they are “finding the goal with ease” and have “a very high percentage of success”. “That indicates that there has been a progression in the work since Xavi’s arrival. You work with an idea and more and more automatisms are taken on. They have also added individualities that are very decisive”, he underlined.