The coach answered questions from the media before heading to Barcelona to face Barça Atlètic.
Statements by Beto Company:
"We’re very clear that it’s an extremely tough match. They’re a team fighting relegation, and they’re almost a clone of us. They’re one of the teams that holds possession the most, that completes the most passes, with a combinative, risky style of play, always trying to create advantages. They’ve got very, very young players with a lot of talent, and I believe last week’s win gave them a big morale boost and made them believe they can avoid relegation—something they saw as very difficult just a few games ago. We’re expecting a very challenging match, and we’re all aware of what’s at stake."
"Playing first is good if you win, that’s the conclusion you can draw. We don’t really care if we play before or after, but if you play first and get the points, you put pressure on your rival. It’s obviously an extra, but we need to focus on ourselves. I’ll repeat the key phrase: we need 9 out of 9. It’s useless to look at others if you don’t do your homework, so let’s do ours and then, whether we play before or after, we’ll see."
"We’re the same distance from first place as we are from sixth. We need to be aware of where we come from. Would we have signed up for this situation two months ago? YES. Are we in a good emotional moment because things are going well? Perfect, let’s stretch it as much as we can. We believe in victory, and that victory will put us where we need to be. If, afterwards, the results go our way and we can fight for more than just the play-offs, even better."
"There are many teams in the league who, when you press them high, their first option is to go long and play over the top. We try to force them to deliver the ball with as little quality as possible. We take the risks we need to take, and we’re aware of that. But now we’re facing a team that likes that kind of high pressure so they can beat it. That means we have to be more aggressive, more careful, because they’re not likely to change. They’re built for it. These are young players who are used to these types of situations. On the other hand, we expect the same from ourselves. The rival will press us too, because they know tomorrow’s match will be a battle for possession, and whoever can dominate the ball significantly will have a much higher chance of winning."
"I don’t expect a very positional match. What we don’t want is for Barça to drag us into long, slow positional attacks. Knowing Barça’s DNA, I expect them to come after us, so we probably won’t get many long positional sequences. Hopefully we will, because that would be a very good sign. I believe it’ll be a match full of high pressing, taking risks from the back, and once you find space, you have to go forward. I don’t think there will be much positional attacking because FC Andorra needs to force them out of their comfort zone."
"The starting eleven becomes clearer as the week goes on, and I think the whole coaching staff has it pretty much defined. Regarding what you said about Josep Cerdà—he’s 100%. The other day, I think he had some very good minutes, but we all know what Josep is: a hugely unbalancing player. What he needs now is to get back that competitive feeling."
"I see the inconsistency of reserve teams as a result of inexperience. I think it’s impressive the points they’re getting, because half of that team might be playing Champions League someday. I think credit goes to the club for trusting young players, basically taking the youth team and having them play in Primera RFEF. There’s a lot of quality here, people with experience in higher divisions, but teams that young can end up struggling."
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