Rubi: 'We're motivated to become the first team to beat Dépor'

UD Almería’s head coach Joan Francesc Ferrer 'Rubi' has expressed his determination to become the first team to score and defeat RC Deportivo de La Coruña at their home ground, the Abanca-Riazor Stadium, in the upcoming match on Saturday. The 4:15pm (Spanish Time) kick-off promises to be a challenging encounter, with Dépor leading the league table on their own merits.

Rubi praised Deportivo’s position at the top, highlighting their tactical discipline and dangerous attacking play: 'They’ve earned their place at the top with consistent performances. They’re a well-coached team with a style that combines patient build-up play and lethal counter-attacks. We’ll need to be sharp in all defensive aspects,' Rubi noted.

Despite the challenge, the Catalan has faith in his team’s ability to rise to the occasion, pointing out the unpredictable nature of the league this season: 'The standings show that anyone can win, whether at home or away. We’ve seen 28 home wins, 26 away wins and 23 draws. The competition is fierce, but we're ready.'

Rubi also highlighted the importance of maintaining the solidarity and defensive resilience that has helped UD Almería improve in recent fixtures: 'We need to keep up the level of unity we’ve shown recently, and we’ve worked on specific tactics that can hurt Deportivo,' he added.

The Abanca-Riazor stadium, with its near 30,000-strong crowd, presents another challenge, but Rubi sees it as motivation: 'It’s a fantastic stadium and playing in front of that rocking atmosphere should only spur us on to put in our best performance,' the Vilassar de Mar native concluded.