MENDILIBAR: "WE HAD AN EXCELLENT TRAINING SESSION AND I'M USING THAT FOR TOMORROW"

José Luis Mendilibar gave an extensive overview of the team's current situation on the eve of tomorrow's match against Girona. The coach began by discussing the team's condition: "The time between matches has been five days, which I believe is sufficient to recover and be back at 100%. It's true that due to the heat and the temperature at which we train and play matches, resting isn't easy. I think the players are in good shape, and I especially want to emphasize today's training. It's been a long time since I said this to you or the players. I congratulated them because it's been a while since we trained as well as we did today. That gives me hope that we can have a good game tomorrow. It might not happen, but you know that I've always believed that training sessions help me select the players, think about how we'll play, and I think we had a great training session on the eve of the match, which leads me to believe we'll have a strong game."

On Lukebakio, the initial impression has been very positive: "Today, he gave me a good feeling. He is a versatile player which is not always easy. The feeling, like with the rest of the group, has been very good. Personally, for me and everyone else. We believe he's arrived well, he's in good shape, and he can execute what we're asking of him. In the end, you can do good things that might not be beneficial for the team. Today he did very well."

"Lukebakio has left a very positive impression on us, and we think he's in good shape."

Furthermore, he talked about last season's match: "We lost that match 0-2, but we had chances that we couldn't convert. Ultimately, success or failure has consequences, but they're not solely determined by the result. It seems like we only analyze the outcome. The attitude in the match against Vitoria wasn't appropriate. Without knowing the statistics, I told you that we ran significantly less than the opponent, and that was the case. The beginning of this week hasn't been good because we remembered the defeat, how it happened, and that we've lost both matches. Today, we had a pre-training briefing that we usually do about the opponent, but today it was about ourselves. It was beneficial, and I'm holding onto that to believe that we'll be in good shape tomorrow and that at least the attitude will be positive."

He also discussed Rafa Mir's situation: "I've mentioned this in several press conferences. There are players without contracts, others with contracts who might be on the verge of leaving, others whom clubs have approached but didn't leave... There will be many situations like this until September 1. I try to distance myself from these things. I can't count on Idrissi because he doesn't have a contract. He trains with us because he's a club player, and I don't want to treat him poorly. With Rafa Mir, I can count on him. He's in the squad, he's played, and we've had three matches. Two were poor, and one was very good. It seems like we're halfway through the season, and some players haven't played. We also need to provide reassurance to those who have played. It's not that you play badly, and someone else has to come in. This isn't a coin toss. I'm calm and happy with Rafa because he's with us, and I need to make the most of him. If he stays, that's fantastic because he's one more player. I have nothing against him or anyone."

"I'm relaxed with Rafa Mir, and if he stays, that's fantastic, because he's one more player."

After confirming Nianzou's absence and reaffirming his confidence in Juanlu, he was asked about Pedrosa and his role with Acuña's injury: "If he's signed here, it's because we believe he has potential. This will be his first real test in a competitive match, even though he's played in friendlies. He'll show us, he's been training well with the team, and we'll see how he's doing." On the other hand, Fernando won't be available for the match tomorrow: "Yesterday, he had to leave the training session due to discomfort. He won't be able to play in this match, and I don't know if he'll be ready for the match against Atlético. With the break afterward, there's no need to rush, but we still don't know."

Additionally, he discussed Sow: "Today, he had an excellent training session, just like the rest of the players. Out of the 25 of us, except for a couple, everyone was fantastic. That's what I want to see from Sow and everyone else. I'm someone who takes each day as it comes, and I'm drawn to what I see in training. Just like I said about Rafa. We've had three matches, he's signed because he has a lot of strengths, but he also needs time to adapt to what we're asking of him. What he did elsewhere might need to change here. I believe he's a good footballer who will contribute to us, but we need to be patient. We've had three matches, and we'll end up playing around 50."

And from there to the planning: "We still need to strengthen the team. The problem is that by the time we finish strengthening the team, we will have played four La Liga matches and one Supercup match. Perhaps in that sense, we're behind other teams. It's what we've been dealt, and we need to sign players and see if we can recover from injuries. We all know we're in three competitions. We're a bit short on forwards, and we might need to bring in one more, not necessarily because they're better or worse, but because of the number. As for a center-back, with the injuries we have in defense, it's likely that one could come in. Then we'll see if the central midfielder can join and assess our situation because if a center-back arrives, we have Gudelj in midfield. Plus, we have to consider that for these new arrivals, others need to leave. Patience is required."

"We still need to strengthen the team, we need to sign players and see if we can recover from injuries."

Emphasizing the need to focus more on ourselves than the opponent, he outlined that "in the two league matches, we've had more possession than the opponent, and it hasn't amounted to anything. Last season, we sometimes had more possession and sometimes less, but we played more in the opponent's half. Personally, I'm not interested in having more possession in our half. These are things that need to change, and that's why we did what we did today. We've focused more on ourselves and not getting distracted by the opponent.

Finally, he praised Míchel, his opponent in the dugout tomorrow: "He's a really good guy, a great coach, and he's had the misfortune in previous teams of getting promoted and then things not going well in La Liga. Once he's been given some continuity, he's showing what he's like as a coach. He has very clear ideas about what he wants and what he demands. I think he's currently in the right place to do what he believes needs to be done with those players."