Nelson Monte, Aridane and Thalys make UD Almería debut

Nelson Monte, Aridane and Thalys made their UD Almería debut as they trio played their first minutes against Real Valladolid CF. The Portuguese centre-back started after more than a month on the sidelines due to an ankle injury he suffered in pre-season against Águilas FC. It was the first days of August. Rubi thus regained some strength in defence. In the 79th minute, he was substituted for Aridane, who was unveiled this week as a UD Almería player. Brazilian forward Thalys also made his debut, coming onto the pitch in the 73rd minute to replace his peer Léo Baptistão up front.

At the end of the match, Nelson Monte spoke to the cltub's official radio station, UDA Radio and acknowledged that he was 'happy' to be back playing after more than a month out injured, although above all, he felt 'sad and disappointed with the result. We deserved much more in this match. We played a very good first half in which we could've taken the lead and in the second half, when it seemed like a 2-1 was imminent, it was 2-1. It wasn't fair.'

'We must keep believing. We were working very well and the team is playing football, but luck is turning its back on us. If things change even a little, things will be different,' stressed Montes.