Gaizka Garitano: 'We're going to make it difficult for them and they know it'
The UD Almería gaffer recognised in the pre-Real Madrid CF presser the potential of the Madridistas: 'They're one of the best teams in the world. They're competitive animals,' but he also clarified that the Rojiblancos put in sterling performances away from home against strong opponents like Atlético Madrid and Barça. 'We're going there with the greatest enthusiasm,' he says
UD Almería head coach Gaizka Garitano looked ahead to Sunday's test against Real Madrid CF and highlighted: 'In order to beat them, we must play a great game and hope that they aren't successful, because they do fashion a lot of chances and we'll be hoping that they struggle when attacking. We have to be brilliant and they have to be not so good, although we've already shown that we can compete fiercely against big teams with the likes of Girona FC, Atlético de Madrid, FC Barcelona…'
'I've gone several times as a head coach to the Santiago Bernabéu and it's always been a difficult venue to win. They're undeniably one of the best teams in the world and we're going there with the greatest enthusiasm. We must give it our all and if we become the best version of ourselves, we'll be 100% involved in the game. We're going to make it difficult for them and they know it,' the Basque Country native explained.
Mr Garitano also acknowledged that he does not expect the Merengues to go into the game match-fatigued after competing in the Spanish Cup tie last Thursday against Atlético de Madrid: 'They're footballers who never relax, that's why they win titles and never get tired. They're competitive animals, they recover very quickly since they have a very high physical level. We expect a good game against Real Madrid CF, who will surely make rotations and with a high competitive level.'
The Rojiblancos' gaffer shared his first impressions about the press conference offered by Real Madrid CF head coach Carlo Ancelotti ahead of the next match, in which only one question was asked, the last one, regarding the next league meeting. The Italian expressed his gratitude, since currently, the main focus of the Blancos is to focus solely on preparing for this important match against the Indálicos. This is why Gaizka Garitano recognised: 'Ancelotti is one of the best head coaches in the world and a gentleman. What we have to do is redeem ourselves, compete and have more people talking about us. We have that in our hands.'
To conclude the pre-match press conference, the Bilbao-born valued the recent addition to the UD Almería defence: 'We're happy with the arrival of Aleksandar Radovanović because we needed a left-footed centre-back in the squad.'