The coach of Deportivo Alavés, Quique SánchezFlores, confirmed that he has not found “any crack” in FCBarcelona before the match that will be played at the Spotify CampNou, but warned that this does not guarantee a surprise. The statement was made at the press conference in Vitoria, where the coach stressed that the match will be “very demanding” because the Catalan rival “does many things well.”
SánchezFlores described Barça as a reference team both in the League and in European competitions, with “very deep-rooted things” that cannot be changed because they are executed with great efficiency. “Barça plays well, positions itself well in attack and has improved its defensive patterns,” he stated, highlighting that his team must take advantage of the opportunities that arise and “be very successful and concede as little as possible.”
Alavés arrives at the CampNou without having played the Copa del Rey match, which was postponed after the train accident in Toledo. “We would have liked to play,” the coach confessed, although he sent condolences to the affected families. He assured that the “eleven” that will come out tomorrow would not have changed if the cup duel had been played, and that the team has met to talk about “feelings” and their general condition.
The focus of the talk was to recover the patterns that took Alavés to the top of the classification. “We are clear about where we need to return,” he added, pointing out the need to return to the form that has given them good results.
As for ToniMartínez, who has not yet played in front of goal this season, SánchezFlores commented that he is getting better every day. “He got injured when he wasn't well, but I don't have any doubts about him,” he said, adding that he hopes “he gets the same number of goals as last season or more.”
With the matchday at the CampNou just around the corner, Alavés is preparing for a challenge that, according to its coach, will require precision and defensive discipline to be able to compete with Barça, while the Alavés team maintains confidence in its squad and in recovering its usual performance.