Espanyol’s coach, Diego Martínez, stated this Friday at the press conference prior to the match against Mallorca that the rival “perhaps comes at its best moment of confidence of the season” after having beaten Real Madrid at home (1- 0) and Villarreal (4-2).
The blue and white coach, before the session at the RCDE Stadium, extolled the virtues of the Balearic squad: “They believe a lot in what they do and defend very hard. We must be prepared for a match with alternations in the way we play, with moments of great intensity and breaks. It’s a very demanding game”.
The Galician recalled that Mallorca is “much more than Muriqi”, his top scorer with nine goals, and highlighted the opponent’s offensive repertoire. “They have players with a lot of power, both one-on-one and in the air. They also have a very strong set piece,” he analyzed.
Diego Martínez, on the other hand, pointed out that Espanyol needs to improve its defensive consistency to take a step forward: “To win games we need to improve defensively, as we did against Elche (Espanyol won 0-1) in many facets.” The Blue and Whites have conceded 33 goals this season.
Asked about the low ball possession that Espanyol and Mallorca have -two of the lowest in this LaLiga statistic according to Transfermarkt-, the coach downplayed the data: “What I want is to win. It is more than overcome, possession is not correlates with the result.
Regarding the state of the infirmary, Diego Martínez revealed that, in the absence of training, Joselu, César Montes and Calero “are in good line”, although he did not confirm the presence of any. In addition, he recalled that footballers like Rubén Sánchez have some physical discomfort.
In this sense, the person in charge of the blue and white bench was very prudent: “We don’t know if they will be able to be there and, if they are, we don’t know if it will be from the beginning, for twenty minutes, half an hour… It is something that will be determined by their sensations, but his commitment is maximum”.
Finally, the Espanyol coach highlighted the importance of the support of the fans and hoped that the stands would give the block a boost. “The children will come and other times that we have played at this time (2:00 p.m.), beyond the game, the emotional aspect is important because there is a very good atmosphere in the stadium,” he reflected.
