“Run like animals and give our all, give 120%, stay focused, stick to the game plan…” Manolo González is clear about everything, which is a lot, what his team must do to get something positive from their visit to Lluis Companys. And although he is aware of the difficulty that this match entails, he has appealed to the commitment of his players to give a good image this Sunday. “I don’t care if they leave us for dead,” he concluded.
A derby provides extra motivation for its players, a match that for González “is different, we will go out to defend our shield with pride.” The coach believes that motivation is not discussed and that they will go out “to compete to the maximum, to the best of our ability and more,” he warned. And pointed out as one of the keys that they have to “play the game long and know how to compete. With the ball there are four or five situations in which we can hurt them and we have worked on them.”
“I don’t care if they leave us for dead.”
Asked whether the entire matchday should have been canceled after the tragedy in Valencia, the coach wanted to make it clear that “human lives come before football,” but he left these types of decisions in the hands of the authorities.
Both teams come to the match with very different dynamics. Barça is the leader and has just had one of the best weeks in recent years. Espanyol has five defeats in six league games. Despite this, González responds firmly: “Everyone seems to consider us dead, but we were not dead after Oviedo and in Wanda. I don’t care if they leave us for dead. The team has shown in many fields that it can be competitive. “If we have the competitiveness of Bernabeu or against Atlético de Madrid, it will be difficult for them to knock us down,” he assured.
The closest thing to De la Peña here is me. If I go out and look like a motherfucker…”
The situation is similar in dynamics, but saving the distances, to the year 2009 in which a bottom Espanyol won at the Camp Nou thanks to the goals of De la Peña. González was humorous when asked about the possibility of emulating this result. “The closest thing to De la Peña here is me. If I go out and score like a motherfucker… Saving the distance (with what happened in 2009), it would be very nice. We will try to keep the team growing and come out of the game with good things,” he said.
The parakeet coach said that for him the important thing “is to compete and win again”, only in that way “the parakeet will be happy and what I want is to make them happy.” In addition, he assured that they had analyzed the rival and how to overcome the high pressure and offside that Barça poses. “You have to have a lot of defensive mentality. Be very concentrated and when we have to attack, find the free man in the dead intermediate zones and ensure that he has space. And then find the right pass. “This way we will have the options to go for the game”, development.
Finally, he revealed that his players have been working on crosses and shots because they have to be more “self-demanding” near the goal. “We have to be more effective. We cannot forgive like the day of Sevilla.” Furthermore, he confirmed that Pol Lozano, Gragera and Calero will be absent for the match, which will force the coach to bring on Alvaro Aguado or Rafa Bauzá, or perhaps both.
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