Marcelino: “We want to prove that we’re a good team”
Marcelino: “We want to prove that we’re a good team”
Marcelino warns Levante UD will be tough opponents: “they are a team with great potential and have good players.”
Athletic Club head coach Marcelino García stressed the importance of Friday’s match against Levante UD in terms of bouncing back from the defeat against Cádiz CF at San Mamés.
After the two-week international break, the Lions are back in LaLiga action, heading down to Valencia where they will face Levante at 21:00 CET.
“We’ve been responsible with our self-analysis,” Marcelino said at his pre-match press conference. “The squad accepts its responsibility and its mistakes. Now we have to go and win this match.
“We want to prove once again that we’re a good team. That’s our ambition and our hope. In football, we know the short-term is what’s most important, what has come before doesn’t determine a result. Tomorrow, the team which plays best and is most accurate in both boxes will win.”
Levante are without a win from their first 13 matches of the season, currently lying in 19th place, but Marcelino warned the Granotas should not be taken lightly.
He said: “We have to be aware that in today’s football there is no such thing as a small enemy. Maximum respect for our opponents is the only way to respect ourselves. We mustn’t look too much at Levante’s form.
“I expect a complicated game. They have a new coach who’s been able to work during the international break and some important players have come back from injury.”
Marcelino went on to say that the key to the game would be defensive strength, adding: “We have to be good defensively and not concede again. We also need to have that bit of luck.
“As well as being strong at the back, we have to attack to make them feel uncomfortable on the pitch and make them doubt themselves.”