Diego Martínez: "The names don't matter, just continue in First Division"

After fifteen days of the national team break, the pressure is even more suffocating.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
31 March 2023 Friday 06:30
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Diego Martínez: "The names don't matter, just continue in First Division"

After fifteen days of the national team break, the pressure is even more suffocating. Espanyol has much more at stake than three points in Girona. As well as his coach Diego Martínez, who has not found the formula for his team to improve results and right now is on the verge of relegation. The coach is aware of how delicate the situation is, which is why he has focused on the team. "What matters are not the proper names, only that the club continues in the First Division next year" and that is why it focuses, he argued, on trying to "improve and win games".

The Galician revealed that the intention in this league break was to be more solid in defense and take the games "to a favorable situation, not make mistakes and be better positioned in situations of losing the ball." "We must try to be more consistent", summed up Diego Martínez, who said that the blue and white dressing room is aware that he is facing a "very high-level game, with maximum demands".

Martínez sees his team "focused, strong and wanting to vindicate" in this Saturday's game against Girona. A duel that he hopes will be "a celebration of Catalan football".

The coach acknowledged that Espanyol, seventeenth, "is not at its best moment of performance and confidence" and was convinced that "overcoming it makes you better". In addition, he stressed the involvement of all: "Can you imagine that when there is turbulence on the plane, people jump out of the window? It would be a big problem."

The coach announced that left-back Brian Oliván "will not make it" to the match, since he continues "with an internal wound that has opened after the blow he suffered against Valladolid." In addition, the midfielders Edu Expósito and Denis Suárez and the French winger Pierre-Gabriel are bothered and doubtful. Asked by the forward Joselu, he advanced that "no one can guarantee" the minutes that he will be able to play against Girona. "He is tired from the trip, but with a very good mentality and happy," he concluded.

Regarding the casualties throughout the season, the blue and white coach pointed out that it is "time to focus" on what can be controlled and avoided dramatizing. "All the teams have these situations, it is a common reality in the world of football in general," he reflected.