The coach of C.D. Leganés, Paco López, appeared this Saturday at a press conference after the match that the pepinero team played against U.D. Las Palmas at the Ontime Butarque Stadium, corresponding to the sixth round of LALIGA HYPERMOTION, which ended with a 0-1 away victory.
The coach evaluated the match as follows:
Change from the first to the second half: "We played a great first half again, even better than against Dépor and Cádiz. The pity is that it’s very hard for us to finish plays. We finished one, and by a millimeter, it didn’t go our way. Getting ahead against these teams makes a big difference. Then their goal came in the 6th minute due to a misalignment on a throw-in that we need to defend better. That millimeter went in their favor. After the red card, it was very difficult for us."
Second yellow for Cissé: "I didn’t see it. They tell me he was grabbed first and lost his balance, but I can’t judge. He’s devastated, says he was fouled first. These are decisions that haven’t gone our way. We were superior again, but without finishing, and without finishing, what we’ve done doesn’t count. We went one-on-one, won duels, second plays, against a great team like Las Palmas."
Offsides: "We’ll have to trust the technology; we can’t do anything else. When it benefits us, it will even out in the long run. If we want to favor the spectacle, in plays like these that aren’t very clear, maybe they should be validated, but since the rule is as it is now, we’ll have to trust that it’s that millimeter up or down. Once it went to VAR, we all feared the worst."
Duk: "The efforts are very explosive, and obviously, in the second halves, it’s normal that he can’t last the full ninety minutes. It’s a position where we were weakened, like last week, but he had a sensational first half."
Juan Cruz: "We’re used to seeing him more on the wing, but he has talent and is good one-on-one. We’re trying to leave that outside lane for Duk so he can receive between the lines and move freely. In the final third, he can give you that last pass or goal. Normally, he can make a difference, and that’s why we have him there, but the structures and game plans vary."
Not winning at home: "I’d be worried if the team wasn’t creating chances. Cádiz, Deportivo, and Las Palmas have come here, teams of a very high level. I’m satisfied with what we’ve shown and proposed, but we would have liked to win all three matches. If you don’t finish them off when you have them on the ropes, they have talent, and what happened today or against Dépor can happen."
Lack of finishing: "We have to keep working and focusing on improving in those finishing areas. We’re missing the mark in decision-making, which is a shame because, if we analyze the first half, we created a lot. We have to keep insisting because if we’re a brave and daring team against these opponents, we need to do more damage."
First-half performance: "It’s quite close to what we want as a team. Las Palmas has very talented players, and we still have room for improvement. In those final meters, we need to finish better and be more decisive to finish off the opponent when we have them on the ropes."