Rubi: 'We've made Alba's self-esteem improve and we've ended up paying for it'

Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia 'Rubi' shared his post-match thoughts at the Carlos Belmonte stadium press room after the narrow defeat to Albacete Balompié, which ends their 14-game unbeaten streak. 'That's football, for us what has to penalise us the most is having made our opponents' self-esteem improve in the first half because we ended up paying for it,' he pointed out. 

 

It was a game of the halves. The Catalan gaffer made an assessment of the fixture, highlighting the differences between the two halves: 'I reckon the opponents have done many things well and have taken us out of the game a little. It's true that a play of ours that could've ended in a goal ended up going against us. We played a weak first half. Albacete have come out on top and have won on 1v1s, the second balls…' 

 

Despite not having shown the brightest version of UD Almería, the Catalan recognised: 'We were able to try to tie and we were very close. We left with two balls on the post, one missed ball one yard away from the goal... We have to get back on track and know that we have to start the games with more intensity because if not the adversaries are going to create the difficulties that Alba have created today.'

 

Rubi continued to delve deeper into the different situations that have developed throughout the match, focusing on the errors of the first 45 minutes: 'Very misplaced, far from the Albacete attackers, far from the ball. It hasn't been known how to remake it, which it's been done many times. In the second half, the team were a little more similar to what we wanted, but suddenly the penalty was awarded.' 

 

Finally, the Vilassar de Mar native was positive about the future of the competition saying: 'It's part of the game, we were very well used to it. Let's hope that from now on we'll see this defeat far behind and with a good streak. For now, let's think about Real Oviedo and recover players.'