Rubi: ‘We’re going to Lugo with great enthusiasm and confidence"
The head coach warns that Monday's rivals ‘are a team that compete very well and always give it their all in the games’
‘We’re going to Lugo with great enthusiasm and confidence,’ exclaimed UD Almeria head coach Rubi ahead of Monday's game at the Anxo Carro stadium before the Rojiblancos close out 2021 and the first half of the league. He argued ‘the next opponents are actually doing well at the moment. Once again, choosing the starting XI is a difficulty for the head coach.’
Rubi warns of the difficulties that will be encountered in Lugo because, as he explained ‘we’re going to a stadium where it’s difficult to win against opponents who always compete very well. They’ve only lost 5 games so far. I reckon that despite being eliminated in the Spanish Cup, they’re doing well at the moment. In addition, as he added, ‘they always give it their all in the games. I think they’re definitely one of those teams that you need to have a hard time before beating them. They’ve got their attack weapons and they have a well organised defence. They’re a good team without a doubt though.’
When asked if Thursday’s Spanish Cup tie could have a negative effect on the last fixture of the year, he replied ‘I’ve seen the footballers very well. We still have a practice session on Sunday, which is gonna be a bit more demanding. The feeling I have is that the team members are well recovered. It seems that it’s more of a psychological issue, but I guess the recoveries with victories speed up the process.’
UD Almería are looking to close out 2021 on 9 points over the second and third placed teams in the second-tier table. On this subject, he stated ‘it’s clear that it’d be vital to finish the first half of the competition in that position, but obviously winning. I want my team and our rivals to win, another thing is that we could open the gap at the top, but we have a second half coming up soon and a start to 2022 that it’ll surely be really exciting.’