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‘We have to buckle down from now on because Sunday’s game will be another story’

Balliu believes that the team must keep their feet on the ground despite Almeria rained on a top flight team’s parade

Almería's comprehensive 5-0 victory over Alavés has been in the limelight. The squad were overjoyed at the 5-goal thriller. The big ‘W’ boosted the players’ confidence but they don't want to lose touch with reality. And the reality goes through the next LaLiga SmartBank match according to Ivan Balliu. The 29-year-old right-back caught up with the club's official radio station, UDA Radio and stated that ‘we have buckle down from now on because LaLiga clash will be very different. Sabadell will go into the game with a defence of five and that’s a tough row to hoe. Many teams might respect us more after the result against a First Division side but we must never lose our humility.’ 

The second tier race is set to be a close-run thing with surprise package: ‘everything will be decided by details and the differences will be minimal at the end of this season. We can’t afford to lose a single game. We have to collect points at all times. Who knows if the individual goals end up making the difference?’ he questioned.

There was also time to give his take on the result in the Spanish Cup tie, and therefore he pointed out that ‘when you play against a top flight team, you know that they’re stronger physically, faster and technically better. We had to get heavily involved in the game from the start. They barely kept the ball because we recovered it immediately and that was the key.’ We saw the best image of UD Almería and according to the defender ‘if Almeria were competing in the First Division, we wouldn’t be at the bottom of the table because we have great players.’ In fact, this was one of the great achievements behind progressing to the Copa del Rey last 16: ‘We won by sticking to our style of play and that really reinforces us. It was our best version indeed.’

Balliu confessed that he is Living the dream in Almería these days: ‘Who would’ve thought that I were to become captain of Almería and be so happy in this Club and this city? It’s a worthwhile project and I feel great about it except when I lose.’