Malaga defender Martin Demichelis says new signing Roque Santa Cruz is like a brother to him within football.
The pair are old friends from their time together at Bayern Munich and Demichelis feels that the Paraguayan, along with Malaga’s other new players – Javier Saviola, Oguchi Oneywu and Manuel Iturra – will be a good addition to Manuel Pellegrini’s squad.
“These two weeks [for international fixtures] are going to come in handy so the new boys can adapt. I think they will all suit us, although I only know Santa Cruz and Saviola well.
“Roque is like the brother football has given me and I met Javier when we were youngsters at River [Plate] and with the national team,” the Argentine told a Press conference after training on Tuesday morning.
However, Demichelis is aware of the potential difficulties Los Blanquiazules could face on their bow in Europe’s premier competition after the break, having been drawn in a group containing Milan, Zenit St. Petersburg and Anderlecht
“We are not as experienced as other teams in the competition and even though we may have been drawn in a good group we will have to fight, so it won’t be easy
“Milan, although not the same as years ago, are still Milan, while Anderlecht play in the Champions League every year,” he explained.
Referring to his personal situation at La Rosaleda, the 31-year-old claims he is happy both on and off the pitch.
“I feel very comfortable at Malaga and this could be the best time of my career, despite missing being part of the Argentina squad.
“Even so, you have to take each game as it comes and in football things can change very quickly. My contract runs out in 10 months so I don’t want to rush things.”
