Eduardo Berizzo says Celta Vigo will be going all out to take seventh spot off Malaga this season and qualify for the Europa League.
The teams meet at Balaidos on Wednesday night and Berizzo is aware victory is imperative if his team are to bridge the five-point gap to the Andalusians – Athletic Bilbao are between them – with just five games of the season remaining.
“Our main objective is to catch Malaga and that means beating them, so we’ll have to play with the same intensity and personality we showed against Real Madrid at the weekend,” the Argentine told reporters.
“We can’t turn ourselves away from that idea because Malaga are the team that occupies the position we desire.
“This is a very good opportunity to reduce the number of points between us, but then there are another four games left with 12 points at stake.
“While it’s still mathematically possible we’ll keep on running our hearts out and trying to catch them.”
Berizzo went on to praise Javi Gracia’s team, one he says is committed to playing one touch football whilst also stressing the danger Malaga players pose in attack.
“They are a team that play good football, one that respects the ball, and have players with a good standing in the game.
“I expect it to be a match where possession will be very important, so we’ll need to get the ball back against a side that is quick up front and dangerous out wide. We’ll need to press well so we don’t allow them to play their football.
“I’ll decide before the match the degree of recovery surrounding the players who played for us against Madrid and on that basis I’ll choose the team that plays against Malaga,” he added.
