Sergio Pellicer appeared after the draw against UD Las Palmas (2-2) with excited eyes. Someone unrelated to the reality of Málaga CF would never have thought, from the coach’s eyes, that the blue and white team would finish twentieth. Much less if he had seen the match, but the truth is that the coach ended up with opposite feelings.
«It tastes like a lot because in the stadium in which we are against an opponent who is possibly the best in the category and who dominates all records, and more so how the game had been set… We have known how to take the blow, have personality. The first part, after the penalty, we have shown our faces. We have not shown how we are on the leaderboard. Happy for the boys. Sad because the fans want us to win the points. This marks signs of how we have been able to overcome two situations that were impossible before », he analyzed at first.
It was curious to see the bravest Málaga CF of the season against what was until now the leader of LaLiga SmartBank. This is how the player from Castellón raised the game: «We were clear that we had two options: press on the high block being kamikazes or on the low block to control». However, the message is forceful: “We have to believe that with this way of playing we are going to be close to fighting until the end.”
Now there are 11 games ahead and the first objective is “not to look at the classification”, but “to look at the two games we have at home -Levante and Leganés-. Looking at the classification has been bad for us throughout the year. It’s been a roller coaster.” However, nobody here wants to give up. «The fans know little about the point, but we have shown something more than being a team in this situation. Everything happens to be strong in our stadium with our people. We are going to fight until the end,” encouraged the coach.
There was a detail that surprised the fans before the game even started: the captaincy of Lago Junior, but Pellicer wanted to explain it at a press conference: «I think we have to protect the people who have been at the club for a long time. New mindset is good. Many times when they have been there for so long there are many backpacks. On an emotional level it is difficult for them. I want to protect those people. There are others with habits. Maybe the captain next week is another. He has to go according to what one feels and what the other transmits. Lago transmits to me and transmits to the group. You don’t have to look for any kind of conflict.”
There are 11 games ahead, 33 points at stake. Málaga CF this Saturday would never be in the relegation zone. Hopefully there will be time to show that the Gran Canaria Stadium is the point on which to build for a dream permanence. We will have to wait for the results on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sergio Pellicer and the footballers have chosen to believe and show that there are reasons. On Friday, to add lives against Levante.
