The coach of UD Las Palmas, Xavi García Pimienta, has assured that his players will have to be “brave and aggressive” this Saturday to have a chance of winning at home against FC Barcelona, the club in which the coach of the Canary Islands team trained. as a professional and as a person”, so he will experience a “very special” match.
“We have to be brave, we have to really believe that if we do things well we can get something positive. If you face a team that is better than you and you respect them a lot and you pull back, you even change the way you play, “The normal thing is that you don’t win, because they are better than you and in the end they end up subduing you. If we are brave, we have the ball, we don’t make mistakes, we know how to suffer at the right moments, we will be in the game,” he declared at a press conference. .
In addition, he pointed out that the two teams have “very similar styles”, because they both want to “get to the opponent’s goal through possession of the ball.” “Here it was a very disputed match in which we were very close to achieving something positive. The challenge is to be ourselves, compete against them face to face, and be brave, being aggressive and knowing how to suffer when it is our turn to defend. If it is us We ourselves will have our options; if you collapse, they will overtake you and we cannot allow that,” he warned.
“It is a very difficult, very demanding game against a Barça that is in the best moment of the season, very alive in ‘Champions’ and is going to fight for LaLiga, I have no doubt. Many players come from being in the national team and can wear out, but it doesn’t matter who plays, because they have top-level players,” he continued.
The Catalan coach, former player and coach of the Barça youth team, also confessed that it will be a “very special game” in Barcelona. “It is the first time that I am going to face Barça there in Barcelona. I am a very grateful person, it is the club of my life, I was there for 11 years as a player, I trained as a coach for 17 years. They are 28 years of my life “The club shaped me as a person, I am very grateful for everything that Barça did for me. I feel like a culé,” he stressed.
Regarding the team’s situation, García Pimienta appealed to take “one more step” to achieve the objectives of the course. “We are doing things very well and we are aware that these last nine days we have to take one more step, be even more focused on what we are doing so far, because the moment you relax a little, people don’t forgives you, as has been seen in these last games,” he said.
Finally, regarding his future, he assured that he is “very excited.” “I see myself with a lot of energy, with a lot of strength. Right now I don’t want to talk because there are nine days left, and in the world of football a lot of things are happening. We have 37 points, 15 above relegation. The season is being historic, the players “They are leaving everything with a very recognizable team and game. I feel very strong, very eager and very excited for these nine games, I hope to get many more points,” he concluded.