Rubi: ‘Racing Santander were the better side and deserved the win’
The UD Almería head coach reflects on Lopy’s red card and admits ‘we shot ourselves in the foot’ when numbers were level
UD Almería head coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia 'Rubi' spoke in the press room at El Sardinero Stadium following his team’s defeat to Racing de Santander.
‘First of all, congratulations to Racing. They played better than us and deserved the victory,’ he stated, while also lamenting the impact of Lopy’s dismissal: ‘It happened like in the first half of the season fixture and I reckon we would've seen a much better spectacle if it had been 11v11. Even so, when it became 10v11, we didn’t know how to take advantage.’ He added, ‘We shot ourselves in the foot at that moment.’
Explaining the result, Rubi said: ‘Despite taking the lead, Racing did very well to turn the game around. In the first half, they created more chances than we did.’ the Catalan also pointed out: ‘We didn’t finish some of our moves, and we allowed players to run who can really hurt you on the counterattack.’
The UD Almería head coach admitted that ‘everything that could go wrong, went even worse,’ referring to the key details that ultimately decide matches.
When asked repeatedly about the red card and the referee, Rubi limited his comments to saying he disagreed ‘with the lack of yellow cards shown to Racing players for their constant interruptions.’
Speaking with irony about the VAR decision that led to Lopy’s sending-off, he remarked: ‘The important thing is that Canales wasn’t injured.’
Looking ahead, the Vilassar de Mar native stressed: ‘From now until the end, what will matter most is not the schedule but how teams respond after each setback just as we now have to do ahead of facing Málaga CF.’