Fernando: 'Real Madrid are the favourites, but we have our weapons'
The UD Almería goalkeeper and captain asks for solid support in order to stay up in the first division
UD Almería goalkeeper and captain Fernando Martinez has chatted to UDA Radio about the Club's latest news, which go through their debut in the LaLiga Santander next Sunday against reigning champions Real Madrid CF. The 32-year-old keeper has recognised the difficulty of their season-opener against the Merengues: 'We know that they're the favourites to win. We have respect towards Real Madrid, however we also have to believe that we'll have our chances. Logically, we're fully aware that they're the reigning champions of LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League, although we've got our weapons too and we're going to fight them.'
One of the opponents' biggest threats is player Benzema. When questioned about it, the UD Almería goalie indicated that 'these types of players and their teams don't need to be studied much because they're footballers that you see every day on TV. We've seen many games played by them and therefore, we know their strengths.'
Fernando Martínez has acknowledged that UD Almería, now in the first division, must have another role: “It's vital to know what role we've to play in a tier that is new to us and tremendously competitive. Last season, our goal was to remain in the top positions and now it's completely different. We've got to change the mentality because we're no longer competing as favourites, among other things because our goals are now quite different.'
The last campaign's Spanish second-tier Golden Glove winner has sent a message to the Rojiblancos' fans: 'I truly hope everything continues as it ended last season, but there also has to be a change of mentality. I mean, we were used to always winning in the last season and now, in the top flight, it's not going to be same. Perhaps not as many games will be won or as many points will be collected as in the previous campaign. I have no doubt that our loyal fans will be with us as always, they'll support us and I'm pretty sure that the atmosphere at home is going to be amazing.'