Javi Gracia says he is “proud” of Malaga’s season and has given his players “a very high grade” for their performances ahead of Sunday’s finale against Las Palmas.
Malaga began the season at the bottom of La Liga, amidst boardroom unrest and speculation about Gracia’s future as Coach, until a mid-season revival saw the side shoot up the table to leave them only one win away from finishing the campaign in eighth.
“I’ve given this season a very high grade,” the former Osasuna boss said at a Press conference.
“I want us to be very ambitious in our last game and leave it with a good taste of victory and eighth position.
“The most important thing is to try to end the season as it deserves and if we finish eighth then even better.
“We’ve worked a lot this season, so I’d like our last game to be a party and that the fans enjoy themselves.
“The stars of our season have been my players as they’ve been responsible for turning around a very delicate situation.
“I’m proud of how we’ve been able to pull through the bad times because in the good [times], we’ve all done well.
“In the bad, there have been players who did very poorly and those who kept rowing in the right direction.
“Overall, we can boast of having passed the bad times while being truly united.
“It’s true that [Las Palmas] are a team who can do damage if you let them, but we can also can hurt them by breaking up their transitions and hitting them on the counter quickly because they like to have the ball, play with it and build up their attacks gradually.
“Still, we shouldn’t go crazy and we’ll see who comes out on top in the two boxes.”
