Marcelino still bitter about Betis draw

Marcelino has admitted that he is still bitter about the manner of last week's draw with Real Betis ahead of Espanyol in La Liga on Friday.

The Yellow Submarine were heading towards three points at Benito Vilamarin on the opening day of the new season until Xavi Torres' equaliser in the latter stages, resulting in Bruno Soriano being shown a straight red card for failing to control his temper and the Coach ejected from the dugout for a similarly-frosty reaction.

"We must focus on our opponents. We convincingly [beat Espanyol] 3-0 last season but can't expect it to happen again,” he said at a Press conference.

“It's our first home match of the season and we're dreaming of winning, playing well, being superior to our opponents and transforming the game into a good result.

“We were close to the win last week, but a clear, offside goal deprived us of it. Nonetheless, that's history and we must focus on our opponents.

“We're going to appeal Bruno's suspension and confident it'll be overturned. At worst, he'll be banned for the least number of matches.

“[His foul] shouldn't have resulted in a punishment and left a team with 10 men.

“My punishment, on the other hand… Other Coaches haven't been sent off for protesting but they've complained more than me.

“Either way, it's in the past now and not important heading into this game,

“To go far in any competition, you must be lucky. It's always important to reach the final stretch of a competition, although the Europa League begins with the group stage.”

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