Valencia to go ‘all-out’

Juan Antonio Pizzi has said Valencia will do whatever it takes to go through to the next round of the Copa del Rey.

Los Che meet Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the second-leg of their Round of 16 fixture with the score level at 1-1 from the first encounter.

Calling on everyone at the club to put in maximum effort, Pizzi told a pre-match Press conference: “We need to reach our limit, the coaching staff and above all, the players.

“They’re the ones making the real effort. We generate from that our identity, the one we’re trying to achieve.

“The job of the coaches is to give the players the conditions to develop. That is our responsibility if we want to continue in the Cup.”

Valencia needed a late Helder Postiga goal to restore parity in the first meeting after Raul Garcia but Atleti in front and Thibaut Courtois kept maintained the advantage at the Mestalla.

Pizzi acknowledges that Atletico at Vicente Calderon represents a difficult challenge and says Atletico are so strong they can afford to rotate their team for the game.

“I haven’t followed everything Atletico have done this season. I know they made four changes to play us.

“Undoubtedly the intensity they showed against us and Barcelona shows they are well prepared. They can afford to compromise over team selection.

“We are showing consistency now. Any mistakes we make are down to individuals and not the collective team.

“The only thing we can do is for each player to be focused and avoid mistakes.”

Away from the Cup tie, Pizzi also discussed the future of Ever Banega and confirmed he hopes Valencia sign a striker this month.

“Banega can be one of the pillars of this team. He has been a leader of this team in the past.

“I want to put him in a position where he can be. That’s what I want for Banega.

“We have too small a squad to sell any players.”

Tags Banega Juan Antonio Pizzi
La Liga - Club News