Pochettino: 'We’re going to go for the match from the opening minute, but intelligently”
“We want to play a good qualifying round”
The manager of RCD Espanyol, Mauricio Pochettino, assured that his team will 'go for the match” from the opening minute to try and fight back from the one-goal deficit they are facing in the Copa del Rey round of 16 against Atlético de Madrid, although always “very intelligently.”
After Atlético’s 1-0 victory in the first leg, the ‘blanquiazul’ head coach appeared confident in his squad’s chances of coming back, so they will go out to win knowing that a goal from the visitors would make things very tough on them.
“We’re going to go take the pitch and give our all, of course, knowing that it’s a qualifying tie and that a goal from Atlético would be a burden. But we’ll play knowing that we have 90 minutes and that we can’t run the risk of a larger deficit and having to take even more risks,” he stated.
Furthermore, he believes that the 1-0 loss in the opening leg is a result that allows them the chance to “be right in” the qualifying round. “We lost the first half, the first 90 minutes, and now we have the second half which has all the components to permit us to have a good qualifying tie against a team that is going to be very tough to beat,” he indicated.
“I think that it’s going to be a high-intensity match. It’s going to be very intense and hard-fought from the first minute; logically it’s going to have all the incentives of a Cup match in which everything is yet to be decided, whether we move on or are knocked out,” he added in that sense.
“The team is motivated because the players believe in what they’re doing. The squad has always shown signs of deserving much more. It has a footballing style that stands out and the team displays a positive attitude and the desire to win every match,” he stated in response to whether the recent losses might affect the group.
After Atlético’s 1-0 victory in the first leg, the ‘blanquiazul’ head coach appeared confident in his squad’s chances of coming back, so they will go out to win knowing that a goal from the visitors would make things very tough on them.
“We’re going to go take the pitch and give our all, of course, knowing that it’s a qualifying tie and that a goal from Atlético would be a burden. But we’ll play knowing that we have 90 minutes and that we can’t run the risk of a larger deficit and having to take even more risks,” he stated.
Furthermore, he believes that the 1-0 loss in the opening leg is a result that allows them the chance to “be right in” the qualifying round. “We lost the first half, the first 90 minutes, and now we have the second half which has all the components to permit us to have a good qualifying tie against a team that is going to be very tough to beat,” he indicated.
“I think that it’s going to be a high-intensity match. It’s going to be very intense and hard-fought from the first minute; logically it’s going to have all the incentives of a Cup match in which everything is yet to be decided, whether we move on or are knocked out,” he added in that sense.
“The team is motivated because the players believe in what they’re doing. The squad has always shown signs of deserving much more. It has a footballing style that stands out and the team displays a positive attitude and the desire to win every match,” he stated in response to whether the recent losses might affect the group.