Before any journalist could ask him, Abelardo wanted to send a “message of encouragement and support” to Juan Carlos Unzué, who this Thursday reported that he suffers from ALS. The Blue and Whites’ coach wishes him “all the best” and says that he “has also” signed for that club “, referring to what he said during his speech of” I am going to sign for a modest but very committed team: that of ALS patients ”.
Then he went on to talk about this Saturday’s game against Levante at RCDE Stadium. He wants to forget the controversial expulsion to Bernardo Espinosa last day and even admitted to being wrong when he said that the WHERE He should have intervened, because they told him that the decision is made by the referee on his own.
We will have to improve the level if we want to beat them “
The match against Levante, for Abelardo, will be “very hard and difficult”, or at least he hopes. It has “extraordinary players”, they mix “technique and verticality” and they have the “stamp” of Paco lopez, a technician who varies greatly in scheme and who managed to get his team to draw in the last two days against Valencia and Sevilla, no more no less. Therefore, for Abelardo, it is not enough to maintain the level at which they played against Alaves (2-0) and Getafe (0-0), but they will have to “improve” if they want to “beat them”.
The Espanyol coach awaits “a very tactical match” in which they will try “by all means” that Levante does not take “the initiative”. And then, “let’s see who prevails.” It will be essential to maintain defensive solidity but also to continue generating “chances” as in the last two games. Also “maintain the idea of being vertical and supportive.” “There is no perfect team, least of all us,” said Abelardo, who also insisted that they cannot “work as much as we want” but that they must try to follow the line of performance in the nine remaining games to finish the League.
For this Saturday it falls again from the summoned list Raúl de Tomás (“He has an important ailment in the tendon and we are going to see how his injury evolves”), who will be accompanied by the suspended Bernardo. Abelardo gave no clue as to who can be the substitute for the Colombian central defender: “They are David Lopez, Calero and Naldo, any of the three ”. But he did assure that “there will be some change with respect to Getafe”, because despite the fact that for him “there are key players” that if they do not “offer symptoms of fatigue” they will play, he also said that there would be “opportunities for the vast majority”.
The coronavirus crisis directly affected Espanyol with up to eight infected players who “have made a very important effort, have had a hard time” and “now they are all phenomenal”. The Blue and Whites have managed to stop being bottoms. Salvation is three points away. But Abelardo does not look beyond the game against Levante: “There are nine games left and tomorrow our goal is to take it as the last one we are going to play.”
