Paco Herrera was left concerned by the physical state of his Celta Vigo side after Thursday’s Cup match, but was delighted to have won through.
The Galicians turned around a 2-0 deficit to Almeria from the first leg to take their Round of 32 Copa del Rey clash into extra time, where a goal from Quique de Lucas was enough for them to win through 3-2 on aggregate.
In the next round they will face Real Madrid and for Coach Herrera, it makes the whole effort worthwhile.
“We didn’t want anything other than to progress, even though the League is very important to us,” reflected Herrera to reporters.
“We are happy because we have moved through and for the team that we will now face. Real Madrid is the gift that we wanted to give our fans.”
The Coach, however, was left with concern regarding the 120-minute excursion and how his players may struggle to recover in time for Sunday’s return to League action.
“I have to be worried about the tiredness of the players heading into Saturday. They have made a huge effort against a great team.
“Gradually we caught the thread of the game when we started to play closer together and began creating chances.
“We deserved to progress.”
