Javi Calleja has underlined the potential that Mirandés have, and emphasised their good performances so far, eliminating teams like Sevilla and Celta
Villarreal CF manager Javi Calleja this afternoon underlined that his team has a historic opportunity in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey against CD Mirandés at Anduva (Wednesday, 9pm CET). He did, however, warn of the difficulty of the game: “There are no favourites for the tie. We know that it will be enormously difficult. Mirandés have played against Sevilla and Celta and were better in both matches. They’re in the quarter-finals because they deserve to be. They play football very well and can hurt whatever defence.”
The Yellows head coach thinks not making errors will be key: “We take everything into account. It’s hard to build a number of passes and have long attacking phases because Mirandés press and make the most of your errors. We’re working on that to make the most of our strengths, being practical and run as few risks as possible. If we go out thinking we’re favourites, we’ll regret it. We will give them the maximum respect, being ourselves and giving 100%.”
According to Calleja, the team should look to the last tie in the cup against Rayo Vallecano: “The match at Vallecas is a good learning point. I expect Mirandés to also press high. We have to try and not make mistakes that they can penalise and play it in their half as quick as possible. There is no other option. We need to now that they can punish you with whatever error. We will have to be intelligent and go for the match from the starting. We can’t speculate as the game goes on. We will try and be offensive. We’re up for it and we’re ambitious.”
He showed the path to follow: “We’re going to be ambitious. We’re a step away from the semi-finals. Something that has only happened once in Villarreal’s history. We will line up with a team that we know can compete to go through.”
Finally, Calleja underlined that he is expecting a great atmosphere in Anduva: “I’m expecting a full stadium, despite it being midweek. There will be a great atmosphere. It’s a great opportunity for them and the two teams will be very motivated.”
