“Is it a game for players with experience? I’m going to say yes. Experience gives you more tools, but it doesn’t exempt you from nerves,” admitted Miguel Ángel Ramírez, Sporting coach, making public some of the doubts that have caused him pain. head during the week. At a time when every detail can tip the balance, the Canarian coach, who tonight faces one of the most important games of his career, seems willing to trust the players with the most games under his belt to cushion the talent and experience of the player. Espanyol, the second most important budget in the entire category, in the first leg of the semifinal of the promotion play-off that takes place tonight at El Molinón (9 p.m., Movistar).
There are no big movements coming up in the eleven, with the rearguard already very consolidated. If anything, some nuances regarding the one who competed just a week ago in Elda, and who had a hard time in a difficult first forty-five minutes. Then the entry of Roque Mesa took the team to another level.
When making changes for this first final, Mareo is considering giving more strength to those players who have already fought battles as raw as the one taking place tonight between Sporting and Espanyol. There are very few doubts on the horizon and the losses have reduced the options, especially on the bench. Djuka, Queipo and Zarfino are out of combat, all due to physical problems, while Nacho Méndez entered the call, although at the moment he is not expected to be on hand, but rather as a resource for the final stretch. Youth player Diego Boza was also included on the list for the first time, providing competition in the attack.
One of the most important doubts appears in the midfield, where Espanyol has a lot of talent: Bare, Aguado…. With Pier as untouchable for the coach as an anchor, the question that worries the young Sporting coach at the moment is himself. He must hand over the keys to the game to Roque Mesa, with a very important baggage behind him; Or if perhaps it is better for him to insist on a footballer who has dazzled him, but who is still young, 22 years old, like Nacho Martín, relieved for rest in Elda. The two compete for a position and have their options to start from the start.
The duo of two more positional players like Martín and Pier add consistency and cement inside the team. But Roque Mesa has an element that they internally observe as differential, which is why he seems to be at an advantage: he already knows the path to promotion, and moves like a fish in water in contexts of high tension and demand, as seen in the Pepico Amat, from Elda, where he showed off in the second half, beyond his goal.
Today, Ramírez has only four players on his team who know what it means to be promoted. In addition to Roque, who has already done it twice, there are also Yáñez, Insua and Pier. In principle everyone points to eleven.
The other two doubts of the team lie in other aspects different from each other. In the case of the attack front, Djuka’s absence due to injury – he has not even entered the squad – leaves Otero looking for a new ally. Mario González has a lot of advantage to be a starter, although, it is true, he has lost strength in the last month. But a change in the system seems unlikely, so he will maintain the two-point formation (4-4-2). Campuzano could scratch minutes, but they understand internally that his starting hitting contest is still hasty.
Another unknown is on the bands, where the competition is voracious. Hassan has lost steam over the months, but he brings a different element: speed and verticality. The need to win one of the two games of the tie, due to the advantage that Espanyol has if the tie is tied at the end of the extra time of Thursday’s game in Barcelona, forces the red and white coaches to think about players with an offensive profile , especially now in El Molinón, where Sporting will once again have the support of its fans (24,000 spectators are estimated, a capacity similar to that of the last League match, against Eibar).
Although the “180 minute” match is long, and it is feasible that Villalba, with a more associative profile, will have a leading role from the start. And then, with spaces, between the French dribbler, who during the week has mixed some testing with the starters with another stretch with the substitutes. The one who seems to have a secure place is Gaspar Campos, who brings arrival to the area.
Espanyol, with five back. Espanyol, for its part, has worked with utmost secrecy during the week, and is preparing for a monumental battle in El Molinón, with the parakeets aware that they will have to sweat. Manolo González, who has managed to turn around the situation of the Catalan project, after blowing up two coaches in a period of great instability but who has now gone sixteen games without losing, aims to first guarantee defensive solidity to arrive with the well-positioned tie for the second leg, in Barcelona, where the field factor comes into play and a draw would be worth it if the tie is extended.
In that sense, during the rehearsals prior to today’s clash in El Molinón he has left the door open to playing with five defenders in Gijón, although it is not definitive because he has also tried with a defense of four in other training sessions. It would be, if this change is confirmed, under a 5-3-2 formation, although with two long wingers. The top scorer of the Braithwaite category, with 22 goals, is the great threat of the parakeet team. There is also Puado, with 13.
2024-06-09 02:15:00
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