Alejandro Grimaldo arrived at the La Roja concentration with the label of starter, although he has found that Marc Cucurella has taken his place with great performances, such as the one in the match against Italy.
Grimaldo wanted to clarify that “We are very good friends, I have a good relationship with Cucurellahe has had two great games and we have shown that the left back position is very well occupied.”
The Valencian stressed that “We have no rivalry” and that mainly “we are teammates, we try to get the best out of each other” With very healthy competition, we both want the best for each of us and the coach decides.” Grimaldo never tired of repeating that “Our relationship is great off the field”.
Regarding his characteristics, the former Benfica player said that “Cucurella has a more defensive profile, he has also played as a left-back in Cheleawhile I am more offensive, I play with a line of five at Leverkusen and we can both help in different phases of the game.”
Grimaldo admitted that his replacement caught him off guard, “I didn’t expect it when I got here“, although he has digested it well: “If we win the Euro, it will belong to everyone”.
His Catalan friends in quarters
To win the Euro, the next step is to beat Georgia in a duel “all or nothing, you can’t afford any failure, The pressure is the same to defend this shirt, but in the group stage you can fix a mistake. Not now”.
The full-back is not yet thinking about a hypothetical match with Germany in the round of 16 and has not sent messages with his Bayer Leverkusen teammates. Of course, it is clear that “If we see each other in the quarterfinals, then I want you to go home“.
Grimaldo showed his class in Albania – Spain / AP
Grimaldo was also vindictive, recalling that “A month ago we were not even candidates according to people or the press and now we are favorites. “We don’t want this extra pressure, it doesn’t benefit us. We want to win the Euros, we play with this mentality, but thinking step by step.”
At the top of football
The former Blaugrana does not see many similarities with the generation that won Euro 2008 pointing out that “now we play differently, With more open ends, tiki-taka was played more then.“.
On a personal level, Grimaldo He explained that “this is the season I was looking for, to enter the media spotlight, to be in the national team, to win important titles with my team. “I want to stay at the top and be among the best full-backs in the world.”
Among his companions, Morata is the one who has caught his attention the most: “I was surprised by the level of hierarchy of Álvaro, an incredible captain, His talks, his advice, how he activates the group, I don’t know if he’s modern or not, but I’m very happy with him.”
2024-06-28 11:44:57
#Euro #Grimaldo #rivalry #Cucurella #Spain
