Vicente Moreno: “The Raúl de Tomás-Espanyol couple goes hand in hand”

“Am delighted, happy, where I want to be”, states Vicente Moreno, which counts his long year at Espanyol for successes. First, the promotion. And, back to Primera, a very stable start. But the technician is facing one of his litmus tests. Before his first derby against Barcelona, which will be played next Saturday the 20th at the Camp Nou (9:00 p.m.). “We want to win it”, synthesizes seven days before the appointment, in a interview with David Clupés and Sergi Andreu for the program ‘Tot Gira’, from Catalunya Ràdio.

“Barça will have a certain advantage with Xavi’s debut”, Assumes the Espanyol coach, who adds that“ we always have our rivals very controlled, and we look at everything –including Al Sadd matches, in this case–, but when there is a change on the bench we do not know exactly what we will find. We can intuit it, but we don’t control it as much as usual ”. Nor does he control, or so he assures, a classification in which the parrots are even on points with the Catalans, although they have a pending match: “I don’t look at the classification. We do not go over the connotation that a derby has, but what we have to do is prepare well for the game because we want to win. And if we win, everything that comes after will be good”, He says.

The other current issue in Espanyolismo is the debut with the Spanish National Team of a Raúl de Tomás that, as his own technician acknowledges, “the days prior to the call for Luis Enrique I had a certain nervousness, due to the illusion deposited”. He did not enter first, but “he managed it well and played a good game (against Granada) that surely helped him to finally be called up.” Moreno pointed out about the future of the forward that “Raúl de Tomás is happy at Espanyol, I see him very happy and identified with the club. Time will tell, but I see that the Espanyol-Raúl de Tomás couple go hand in hand”, He sentenced.

Asked about another of the players who reach this moment of the season in fullness, Diego Lopez, says the Massanassa that “Diego can surprise people, because we are not used to constantly seeing players of his age performing at that level. But he has the illusion and the desire, he’s breaking stone every day when he could be more comfortable”, He values.

And, regarding Espanyol’s season and his own as a coach in LaLiga Santander –after a first experience, two years ago, with Mallorca–, clothes don’t hurt by admitting that “reaffirming myself as a First Class coach with Espanyol is the great challenge of my career so far”. A club whose objective in the course of the return, culminates, is “to be important in the category.