Next Sunday, at the start of the first round, UD Las Palmas will visit Real Madrid after the yellow team’s defeat at home against Getafe. “We are facing one of the best teams in the world, for sporting potential, for economic potential and for titles, we must not forget that they are the last European champion and I am not going to start recounting what they have done in recent years . What we have ahead of us is difficult, the challenge, but it is also easy to explain. We have to play our best game, be totally right and they don’t have their day and that is a bit of the focus. From there, maximum belief in our possibilities and, above all, it is a game in which you have to have the ability to know, compared to other games, that any action, even if it is in the opposing corner, can be in your area and this mentality, sustaining it for 90 minutes plus the discount is key to being as competitive as possible there,” Diego Martínez commented at a press conference.
A challenge in an always complicated field, but one that the Vigo coach sees as a positive aspect. “Going to the Real Madrid field is always, first of all, a privilege, because going in the league and playing these types of games means that UD Las Palmas is in the First Division. That in itself has to be a privilege. It’s never a good time, it’s that simple. I’m going to give a very old example. Is facing Mike Tyson a good time to face him? I know that I have to face it, I am going to face it, what I do know is that I am going to face it with my maximum motivation, my maximum conviction in my possibilities to add the three points, yes. From there, let’s see. Add the three points using the example, since try to knock out Mike Tyson. Well, that’s what we’re going to try.”he assured. To which he added: “We know the difficulty, I never consider the consequences. If I asked myself, I wouldn’t even be sitting here. If I considered my life based on the consequences or what could happen or what if happens if this game is such, etc. I have to be consistent, if I don’t think about the consequences, I don’t think about either the positive or the negative. We have a training session today, another tomorrow, the team is growing, we need to connect with our best version and start this second round with 19 games ahead of us and we start at the Santiago Bernabéu, perfect, from there we have to face it. We have to think about what we need to do, how we can do it and how to prepare to give our best version.”
And it is that UD Las Palmas already managed to take the three points from its visit to Barça and competed during its time at the Metropolitano. “A team like us, with very clear ideas from the president, to the sports management and the players, we have very clear ideas of what we are. In clear ideas I also refer to the enthusiasm we have to face each game to win from that conviction. Furthermore, I think that the team, in that sense, has good references from this year, that we have been able to be very competitive against very difficult rivals. Clear ideas also have to do with the humility of knowing that, beyond the budget, whether higher, lower or stratospheric as in this case, we have to think about our highest and best version and that is what we are working on. From there, We know that at the end of the year there are three games that are a parenthesis in the competition, which are Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, a parenthesis I mean is an extra bonus, everything good that you get there is an extra, because they are matches of maximum difficulty and what history and data normally say is that they are very complex matches. We also have to believe that in those lower percentages of possibilities or in those situations in which no one believes in us, we have obtained good results and good returns. We hold on to that one. We have three games in the first round and three in the second that are a parenthesis, extra bonus, and we are going to compete and fight to the maximum for that extra bonus, without losing the perspective that our path is to try to add all the points we can to back in the month of May to be able to obtain permanence,” he assured.
Despite the individualities in front of him, the yellow coach would not get rid of any of his rivals next Sunday. “If I could choose, I would choose the best version of my individual and collective team if I had the magic wand, because I believe in them”he sentenced.
-Although Diego Martínez sees it as a great opportunity, he is also aware of the difficulty of facing a team like Carlo Ancelotti’s. “The transitions, the precision they have at high speeds, the ones for the other and, obviously, Real Madrid is a specialist in this type of situation. The action of the first goal (in the Copa del Rey) is very typical. You are in the rival area, if you are not precise and you make a mistake, they are practically not here at all. As they are very talented and quality players, those individual duels are very important. It is also true that the outside shot, and I am not saying this because they have scored two goals like that in the Cup, is also something important, because in the end you have to try to be together, not leave them those spaces, which they end up finding, so make it as difficult as possible for them, and in the outside launch they are being very effective with everything that that entails. We could start recounting or listing all the very good actions they can have due to the talent they have, but I think we are clear about what we need, we have to be aware that we have to defend very well, that we have to be very precise with the ball, when we have the ball, attack those spaces, which they also leave and be effective, I think this is the key, to be effective at the start,” he stated.
To achieve this effectiveness, The team will not be able to count on Dário Essugo, who will serve a suspension. “I am going to take the opportunity to highlight and give reinforcement to players who, even the other day, had difficulties during the week to be able to get to the game and were there and made a tremendous effort: Dário (Essugo), Javi Muñoz, who was also injured , Campaign is doing it. This reflects the commitment of this team, which is very high. Commitment, intention and wanting. I am not going to talk about his talents and sporting qualities. They are very important players for us, but this is a long road and there will be adversity along the way. And even more so in a second round that you know that these circumstances are happening to many teams. That’s why that’s where you have to be strong. When we arrived here, we knew what challenge we had ahead of us, the challenge that existed, and we knew that there would be many moments of difficulty and adversity and in managing those moments our success will lie in maintaining our confidence and achieving the objectives there. the month of May. But (Campaign) remains a doubt. “The group has been training very well, with intensity as always. Yes, it is true that with greater continuity compared to other times when we have had difficulties regarding flu, viruses, etc. In that sense, except for those people who are touched and injured, day to day life has been good. One thing is the performance and another is the result, the performance has been very good. At the Bernabéu, I hope we have the ability to score three points and be the best team we can be,” he commented. “If we have had something since we arrived here, given the tremendous challenge that we had in front of us, it is that we knew that we were going to have a challenge and a challenge to the limit. I have always perceived motivation at the best level. Then, obviously, when you win you have more confidence, when you lose, that hurts your feelings a little, but the motivation has always been very good. More than greater motivation, it is a different motivation. “I think the squad is very clear about what we need, what we want and also how difficult this is going to be,” he concluded.
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