Perea: “We’re playing for our lives against Oltra’s Almería”
“We want to win at the Juegos del Mediterráneo for the first time”
Luis Amaranto Perea positively assessed the victory over Villarreal. The centre half acknowledged that “the team needed a calm week. We had lost a lot of matches in a short period of time and that’s hard to endure. The win has strengthened the atmosphere and now we have to look ahead.”
The defender has been at the ‘rojiblanco’ organization for seven years and believes that “we’ve never had the necessary consistency. It’s always been this way and this year it happened again. We’re the ones in charge of changing the story. Now we want to finish with our drought in Almería. We’ve never won there, we’re playing for our lives in this match and we want the three points.”
The Colombian doesn’t want to give up on anything. He knows that as long as there’s life, there’s hope, and therefore stated that “as long as we have a chance, we’ll keep fighting for Champions spots. We know that it’s difficult, but we’re not going to renounce anything. I think that not qualifying for Champions League would be a failure. It’s going to be tough, but we can do it. Two years ago we won 8 out of 10 possible victories and accomplished it. Now we’re going to try to do it again.”
Almería, their opponent this coming Saturday, find themselves in relegation spots. Perea believes that “both of us have our lives on the line in this contest. History is there to be changed and we have to win a game for the first time on that pitch. We have to look at that clash as a final, each ball that we touch as the last, and give our all. There’s no margin for error, as we’ve lost many points.”
“The team’s last few draws were important and so was beating Villarreal last Saturday. Those above us lost games and we’ve gotten closer to the top positions. We have to focus solely on ourselves, as surely some of our rivals will fall,” he asserted.
In defining Atleti’s direct rivals for the spots that give right to play in European competition, the Colombian assured that “all of the teams have lost points and that speaks about the standard of La Liga. Nobody wins games before playing them. Espanyol played an unforgettable first half and Athletic also did really well. If you’re not at your best in each match, you get be surprised.”
To finish, he analyzed the possibility of Reyes or Kun Agüero receiving a yellow card this weekend which would keep them from playing against Real Madrid. “I don’t think that they’re thinking about the derby. The most important thing right now is the fixture against Almería. We have to win and keep fighting to be higher in the table. Our lives are on the line in Almería,” Perea wrapped up.
The defender has been at the ‘rojiblanco’ organization for seven years and believes that “we’ve never had the necessary consistency. It’s always been this way and this year it happened again. We’re the ones in charge of changing the story. Now we want to finish with our drought in Almería. We’ve never won there, we’re playing for our lives in this match and we want the three points.”
The Colombian doesn’t want to give up on anything. He knows that as long as there’s life, there’s hope, and therefore stated that “as long as we have a chance, we’ll keep fighting for Champions spots. We know that it’s difficult, but we’re not going to renounce anything. I think that not qualifying for Champions League would be a failure. It’s going to be tough, but we can do it. Two years ago we won 8 out of 10 possible victories and accomplished it. Now we’re going to try to do it again.”
Almería, their opponent this coming Saturday, find themselves in relegation spots. Perea believes that “both of us have our lives on the line in this contest. History is there to be changed and we have to win a game for the first time on that pitch. We have to look at that clash as a final, each ball that we touch as the last, and give our all. There’s no margin for error, as we’ve lost many points.”
“The team’s last few draws were important and so was beating Villarreal last Saturday. Those above us lost games and we’ve gotten closer to the top positions. We have to focus solely on ourselves, as surely some of our rivals will fall,” he asserted.
In defining Atleti’s direct rivals for the spots that give right to play in European competition, the Colombian assured that “all of the teams have lost points and that speaks about the standard of La Liga. Nobody wins games before playing them. Espanyol played an unforgettable first half and Athletic also did really well. If you’re not at your best in each match, you get be surprised.”
To finish, he analyzed the possibility of Reyes or Kun Agüero receiving a yellow card this weekend which would keep them from playing against Real Madrid. “I don’t think that they’re thinking about the derby. The most important thing right now is the fixture against Almería. We have to win and keep fighting to be higher in the table. Our lives are on the line in Almería,” Perea wrapped up.