Miguel GutierrezGirona player since last summer, spent the last eleven years at Real Madrid, a club that has seen him grow up and that has even given him a chance with the first team in the League and the Champions League. Now, past and present cross their paths because on Sunday it will be his turn to visit the Santiago Bernabéu, a “magnificent” stadium, and do so as a visitor. It will therefore be a date good “special” that of a footballer who reviewed the red-and-white news this afternoon in a virtual press conference.
Team mood?
“The team is doing things well, we need to be more decisive up top because at the end of the day in football whoever scores the most goals wins. But hey, I also think that many things are being done well. We must continue in this dynamic, I’ve got to give it another go. I think we’ll get out of there if we do things the way we’re doing them now.”
Return to the Bernabéu?
“It’s a very special game for me. I’ve been in Madrid for eleven years, almost since I started playing football. I have very good memories of that time there. The player I am now is thanks to all the years of training that I spent there. I’m taking many friends and colleagues with me. It will be a special match for me and also for Girona. And in a stadium that, if it’s not the best, is on its way to being so.”
Dangers of Madrid?
“It will be a match in which we must know how to suffer when Madrid press us up top, with their usual forcefulness. It is a match to leave nothing behind, to go and play one-on-one with the opponent and see what it’s what happens. If we remain contemplative they will take advantage of their virtues, which are many. It seems not, but they always end up scoring or winning. It’s a good game for everyone to gain confidence. In a better stadium than the Bernabéu, impossible “.
How does Madrid get there?
“Madrid is the same whether you win or lose in the Champions League. It’s a team that takes every game one hundred percent. What’s up to us is to do it now, to go all the way, to play one hundred percent and not leave nothing.”
The Bernabeu
“It’s a beautiful stadium. I’ve played there as a home team so far and this year it’s my turn to go back there as a visitor. Like I said, there’s no better stage to play in, it’s a magnificent stadium and I’m really looking forward to it the match”.
The proper names of the next rival
“We will have to keep an eye on all the players because the best play there in Madrid. The eleven that Ancelotti puts in, they will all be very good. We have to keep an eye on everyone because anyone can hurt you.”
Tips for the white past
“I can give individual advice to my teammates, explaining where one rival or another can go, but that’s why we have a rival analysis department that helps us a lot in that aspect.”
Nindividual level?
“Against Osasuna I didn’t start, other times this season I was able to do it. We are all here to add, anyone who adds has to contribute. The other day I had to do it from the bench” .
Problems in defense
“At the end of the day people who know what football is all about, know that in a game they attack the playing eleven and also defend the same eleven. Many times it is pointed to the offensive line when there has been bad pressure up top, or in the middle of the field, and the defense is loose. We have to defend and attack all of us. When they score goals, we all score them. And when we score them, we don’t have to point at anyone because it’s so easy to do it that way. We have to value everything that player can contribute defensively, which will surely be greater than the mistake itself”.
Leadership at stake
“Now I am part of Girona and I have nothing else on my mind but to go all out and win. This is the goal of Girona because we have to think about us, that we are at the bottom of the classification and we have to get out of there as fast as possible”.
