‘Learning the dates and times of fixtures was a much-needed boost to everyone’s mood’
Juan Ibiza, the UD Almería centre-back, talks about the imminent resumption of the Second Division
‘Learning the dates and times of fixtures was a much-needed boost to everyone’s mood, especially for me because I have been on the treatment table for so long’. This is how Juan Ibiza expressed his feelings in a conversation on the club's official radio station, UDA Radio. The native of Ibiza footballer analysed the team's latest news a day after LaLiga officialised the schedules of the first two matchdays of the season resumption after football was halted the coronavirus pandemic.
The 24-year-old centre-back is aware that ‘the team are going to have to work harder than ever’ to get in good physical condition towards the forthcoming match on 14th June. This is the reason why he stressed that ‘Albacete also have a lot at stake’, a fact that leads him to believe that it will be ‘a pulsating game’. Ibiza also mentioned that the key to success at Carlos Belmonte is ‘going all out for a win over the 90 minutes, cautious and fully focused. Otherwise, we could pay dearly for any mistake.’
The team from La Mancha still have to play 45 minutes against Rayo Vallecano to complete matchday 20 (December 2019). This situation was commented by the UD Almería defender ‘it has its pros and cons’. Looking on the bright side, ‘they will have already played a game behind closed doors. On the other hand, considering the bad side of this situation, they might begin to feel the tiredness, so to speak,’ he said.
Almeria will be taking on Albacete in their first match after football shutdown. The Rojiblancos kicked off the beginning of the 2019/20 season and also reached the end of the previous campaign playing against them. Taking those encounters as a reference, the centre-back stated that ‘in those meetings we counterbalanced their strengths. We are going to try to repeat it in the game next week.’
As for the first-team Almeria squad, the Ibiza-born player expressed his opinion that ‘it is noticeable that my team-mates and I have continued to work out in lockdown. The truth is that the whole team have returned in good shape.’ Likewise, the centre-back observes a ‘deeply committed and eager team. We are training to the fullest.’