Carlos Colberán stated that the team must show their best form and strive for more points.

Valencia CF is about to face a crucial match against Athletic Bilbao. At the pre-match press conference, Valencia manager Carlos Corberan spoke to the media about the game.  

Carlos Colberán said: "I feel a great responsibility. We are part of this great club and therefore must give our all. We are eager to get points and bring joy to the fans. At the same time, we are aware of our current situation and are approaching it with a high degree of responsibility."  

“I don’t really like talking about numbers and statistics. What fans want to see is the team playing well and winning, not the statistics themselves. We still have room for improvement in some areas, and we need to find out where we can improve. That’s our challenge and our motivation; we’re eager to keep improving.”  

"Offensively, our stats in the second half of the season were indeed better than in the first half. I don't like to talk too much about statistics because they sometimes sound like excuses. What fans want to see is the team performing well in games."  

"The team made significant progress between the first and second halves of the season. We created the sixth most expected goals in the league, while ranking fourth or fifth among opponents with the fewest expected goals. This is the overall level of performance in the second half of the season, and we hope to continue creating more chances in the game. But creating chances is not the same as scoring. For example, in the game against Elche, we had many chances but failed to capitalize on them."  

"Ultimately, the core of a football match is not the amount of data, but the quality of performance. Although the statistics show that the team has improved, the league ranking also reflects that we still have a gap. Every game is a test, and we must do our best in both attack and defense."  

“It’s difficult to completely separate the emotional aspect from the tactical aspect, as the two always influence each other during the game. Victory cannot be achieved by willpower alone, but you can’t win without that drive either. This is not only about understanding the advantages in the game, but more importantly, about effectively utilizing them under pressure. We must seize this opportunity, go all out, show our best, and ensure that this process makes the team stronger and further unleashes our overall potential.”  

“Athletic Bilbao is a very balanced team, and they have also recalled some important players who were absent during the season. We are aware of the intensity of this game and have the ability to cope with it. Our focus is on showing the competitiveness we should have.”  

“We need to focus on our position in the standings. As I mentioned before, we need to get more points, and we must face that reality. We are working towards that, and nothing has changed. The team members are mature and aware of the current situation. We understand the importance of scoring points and must seize these opportunities to perform at our best as a team.”  

When discussing the team's rest days, Carlos Colberán said, "I don't think we have much rest time. We've always planned according to the schedule. This is based on objective facts, not other factors. We take into account the upcoming matches, the previous schedule, and the intervals between matches. According to the latest schedule, the team will only have two full days of rest in the past 20 days before the match against Real Sociedad. However, this is not the case for the entire team, as some players are still undergoing specialized training or recovery training."  

"If we look back further, the team only had four days of rest in the past 31 days. This is the schedule Valencia faced in the final stage of the season. Starting with the match against Real Sociedad, there were only two days of rest every 20 days. This arrangement was based on a comprehensive assessment of the match load, player fatigue, and discussions with the fitness coach."  

Image source: Internet/Valencia official website