MERCADO: "WE HAD A DEBT TO REPAY TO BOTH OURSELVES AND THE PEOPLE"

Gabriel Mercado couldn't hide his happiness following the victory against Atlético and Sevilla FC's outstanding qualification for the Copa del Rey semi-finals: "On drawing Atlético we knew that it would be tough to qualify, but we had a lot of hope and a debt to repay with both ourselves and the people. We wanted to improve our attitude and drive, especially after our rough patch, but we've shown what we can do. We won in the first leg away from home and the team began to pick themselves up. Espanyol confirmed it for us, and today we put our all into another to continue growing and we've bagged a place in the semi-finals".

Asked about the safety in the back, the ex-River player praised the collective effort from the team: "Atlético has top-class strikers, some of Europe's best and that's the reputation they've earnt. They could have scored at any point, and they did, but we worked hard and we got the deserved reward. With Éver's goal we knew that they'd try and fight back, but we upped our game, creating more opportunities. Pablo's goal sealed the win of a well-fought match". 

A victory that serves to move the team forward and make up for previous mistakes: "Football always offers a rematch. What happened at the derby was not right and we want to go at it again with heart and commitment. We didn't want the people to be angry at us and on Sunday hope to regain ground in La Liga and look ahead to the semi-finals with even more drive".