Rubi: 'The play-off tie isn't over'

UD Almería head coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia 'Rubi' went to the UD Almería Stadium press room in order give his take on the play-off tie against Real Oviedo, which ended in a 1-2 defeat: 'As I see it, they were better at the beginning and more confident with the ball. The goal was avoidable, but we reacted and levelled the score. From then on, the opening half was evenly-matched; I remember Léo Baptistão's shot, the curled ball from the forwards… We played a great second half, we lacked a bit of luck. It's a sport that often shows us that the result can be unfair without diminishing the great opponents we had in front of us.'

Looking ahead to the play-offs second leg this Wednesday in Asturias, the Catalan made it clear: 'The play-off tie is not over yet and I'm sure they feel the same way. What we have to focus on is getting ahead at the Carlos Tartiere and at least stretching the tie out for another 30 minutes.'

The Vilassar de Mar native takes the positive note of having competed well against in-form rivals with the characteristics of Paunovic's team: 'The pep talk we've had in the dressing room has been vital because the lads felt they could be better than a great team like Real Oviedo and they've taken that feeling with them to prove it again in their half of the pitch.'

Finally, Rubi spoke about how he's handled the significant absence of Luis Suárez: 'We've tried to be consistent; the striker who has been working in that position day in and day out all season long has been Marezi and if the opponents forced us from the off to play football a little more directly, we'd have that opportunity to challenge. We knew we couldn't leave him in action for too long because he hasn't played for a while from the start and then with the opponents feeling more tired, we thought Lázaro's contribution would be useful and it turned out to be.'