“We're taking the Cup seriously; we want to go as far as possible.”

C.D. Leganés head coach Luis Carrión appeared Tuesday at the press conference ahead of the match the Pepineros will play Wednesday (8:00 p.m.) against C.F. Trival Valderas at Ontime Butarque Stadium, as part of the first round of the 2026/27 Copa de S.M. El Rey.

The Blue-and-White coach offered the following assessment of the team’s current situation ahead of the match:

Importance of the Cup: “We’re lucky to have it right now. We’re working hard in training, but it’s in the games that everything comes together. The more we play, the better. We take the Cup seriously and are eager to go as far as possible. We’ve analyzed our opponent, as we always do, and we hope to win.”

Key aspects of the match: “On Sunday, we watched the match against the reserve team. The clubs must have reached an agreement to play at our stadium; we want to win no matter where it’s held. Hopefully, a lot of people will come out, and we’ll fight to win. We’ve reviewed the reserve team’s reports and the matches we’ve been able to watch. 

We have an idea of what they’re capable of—they play well—and we’ll try to exploit their weaknesses.”

Focus: “We need to keep improving and work on many things, and this is an opportunity to prove it. Nothing is more motivating than that. The opponent does a lot of things well, and it’s good that we have a match tomorrow. Any opponent can beat you, but we’re determined to perform well. 

Tomorrow we’ll go all out.”

Absences: “We’ll try to field the best starting eleven possible. There are several players who hadn’t been playing recently and played a lot of minutes the other day. We’ll have a lineup designed to win the game and do things right. Training sessions are important for making these decisions.”

Cup: “It’s a great competition with the chance to advance and face increasingly tougher opponents. 

We’ll try to advance as far as possible; it’s a competition that motivates us, and we want to reach the later rounds.”

Andrés Campos: “I’m new here and have tried not to dwell on the past. I try to be fair—the guy is training well. The other day he came on and did very well, just like everyone else on the bench. Everyone can play, and they have to give it their all to earn a spot. 

I liked his time on the field the other day.”

Urgent Areas for Improvement: “Hopefully we’ll improve a lot. There are many high-pressure situations where we weren’t well-coordinated. I liked the attitude of pushing forward, but in many build-ups we ended up on the same side. The team’s attitude was good—we tried to push forward and be more direct—and that has to keep evolving. 

You can always give more, and what I want from the team is for them to try to give more and for that to translate into good results. Tomorrow we’ll face a team that will play with a well-organized five-man back line, and it’ll be tough.”

Expectations: “It seems like we have to motivate the players in these matches, and I’d think it was wrong if anyone wasn’t properly motivated. 

No matter the opponent, we have to be excited about getting three points, advancing to the next round… Whatever it takes. We’re coming off a rough patch—we drew the other day—and we have to keep the same level of motivation.”

Trival: “They’re a pretty well-organized team, with five at the back and wingbacks who are somewhat attacking-minded. 

I really liked the three in the middle. Their forwards are fast. It’s no coincidence that we see a lot of goals on the counterattack, and we’ll have to control that, because they do it very well. We’ve watched them, and we’ll try to do what we think is best for us.”

Possible changes: “We’ll make the decision on the goalkeeper tomorrow; I’m very happy with the four who are in the mix. I’m very happy with Sule, but I wanted him to play with the reserve team so he could get some playing time. We’ll try to choose the players who are in the best shape in terms of tactical situations and how they handled the workload from the other day. We’ll do whatever it takes to win the game.”

What has surprised him: “In a positive way, everyone’s attitude toward daily work and their commitment to the message. In the first half we were a bit timid, but in the second half we wanted to push forward. That speaks well of their desire to understand the new message. There were mistakes during the match that we’ve analyzed, and we’ll keep improving by trying to identify better ways to prevent the opponent from advancing easily under pressure. I like the mentality of the team, the club, and the staff, and hopefully that will translate into results—which is what we want.”

Mental Aspect: “I don’t have a magic wand. The players are professionals—they won’t lose their footing. I find it hard to imagine situations in soccer where you’re mentally down. If you lose and you’ve given it your all, you can’t be mentally down. There’s always a chance to do well; you have to stay calm and steady in both the good times and the tough ones.”

Lack of goals: “We have to evaluate this in terms of forays into the box and scoring chances. I’d like to see a high volume of chances in every game, because that brings you closer to winning. The other day we had quite a few, and I liked that. We have to try to be clinical in those situations. We want to create a lot of chances, but we have to keep improving steadily.”