Málaga coach praises and values Espanyol's tremendous potential. “He is envied by how they are. They have made things more difficult. Las Palmas or Málaga two seasons ago could not return when they went down. Hopefully it is not this week when they go up. We see it as a challenge. It is a rich team, with quality, but it is the one that runs the most in the category, with that I say it all. It is the credit of Vicente Moreno and his coaching staff. Because of their quality, they can win by doing very little. Play like a rich man but run like a poor man. It is difficult to manage when you have so many resources. He had three draws, doubts were generated, but they quickly changed the fate. You always have these ups and downs. Now it comes with tremendous dynamics. In his stadium he is intractable, he has only lost two games at home. It is a challenge, a challenge, not a brown. We want to compete every minute. You have to compete every minute as if it were your last. We are going to seek that being in the game, not being afraid. They are above all rivals in the category. By quality of staff and by effort. We don't want to cheat anything on them. We have goals and challenges. We see results from above and below and anything is possible. It is a beautiful challenge for us. That we show that competitive level that we did not show against Fuenlabrada ”.
Jozabed, Benkhemassa, Luis Muñoz and Josua Mejías injuries. “We have not been able to recover any player. By playing the subsidiary and the youth not playing this week makes more youth go because they are competing at a high level. This game is a challenge and a challenge. All season we have many obstacles, but we see it without any kind of excuse. Opportunities for players from the underdog are going to appear. We are penalized by the match plan, during the course we sometimes cannot execute what we had in mind, so let's see how the sign of the match changes “
Málaga have conceded quite a few goals against the teams above. “It is true that against Rayo Vallecano or Girona we played good games. Against these rivals that come to us, mistakes have penalized us a lot. In the first leg there were three starts of play, in that high pressure that we do. In Mallorca the set piece upset us. In Almería we played a great game and it was unfair there 3-1, here we were penalized for mistakes. Always make good decisions. It is a challenge and a challenge. We each play a lot. We have players with discomfort, we have not been able to recover that wardrobe bottom. We have the kids, they were in the Juval field nothing ago and tomorrow they will be in Cornellà. I want them to transmit that illusion. We have more regularity away from home, we are the third or fourth best team in the category ”.
Malaga has several players on loan. “The squad puzzle is as it is, with loaned players, from the quarry, very few who were before … All of this is a puzzle and each one has their own head and a thought. With all those individualities in the shaker, we have produced a very professional group. In adversities, the collective has prevailed more than the personal. We are human persons and we all seek prominence. In these five games they are going to have them all. I see them centered, with the anger of the other day, against Fuenlabrada, which we were not there. This makes us value more what we have done previously. We are very excited and eager, knowing that the just forces are there. We want to get back those we can. Josua Mejías or Luis Muñoz can come back soon. I see them very centered because mathematically there is nothing done. The end of the season greatly affects the taste for better or for worse. Whoever relaxes is not going to play, I don't care what his name is, but so far I see them all involved “.
14 professionals, four youth, five subsidiaries. Other teams will have to do the same in the not-so-distant future. “I do not think that pioneer, are the circumstances. No team would like to have the chip theme we have. We have been like this for two years for not having done things well before. Faced with these difficulties, opportunities appear. It would be better to travel with 18-20 professionals plus the subsidiaries, because it marks the match plan. Sometimes you plan to put a player in but then you can't because of the chips. I'm excited to see these kids from the subsidiary. With everything that is coming, let's hope this economic and pandemic crisis passes, and many people are going to have to pull from the quarry. We have been in this position for two years. I have been with the youth who won the Champions Cup and went to the Champions for the first time and in that team there was a lot of level that they did not have opportunities that these players are having. It is a message for all teams.
It coincided with Vicente Moreno. “Vicente Moreno and I were teammates in the Valencia team, we have great friendship and great respect at a professional level, he does a brutal job. It has a lot of resources, but this category is also tremendously complicated. The key to a team as powerful as Espanyol is that hunger they show every day. That has a hand and a name, those of his coaches and coaching staff ”.