Chus Mateo: “We can't wait to start the Copa del Rey and give our fans something to smile about'
“It's a competition where you have to play well every day and beat three huge teams', stated the coach,
Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo spoke to Realmadrid TV about the Copa del Rey, which is set to get underway as our team face Valencia Basket on Thursday 6:30pm CET: “We can't wait to get started. We've been competing for a while now, preparing for the key moments. We want to give a good account of ourselves and it will be a good assessment of the work we've been doing since the start of the season. The Copa a competition where you have to play well every day and beat three huge teams but for now we're concentrating on Valencia Basket. If we want to lift the trophy, we have to win the first game'.
'It's a tournament anyone can win. If you're in good shape over those three days, come into it in good form, if you feel right throughout the competition and get fortunate with injuries, you can get your hands on the trophy. All eight of us know we have a chance of winning it and the levels are incredibly high. Four of the eight teams are among the best in European competition and the other four could quite easily be in there because they're playing some incredible basketball'.
Valencia Basket
'We have to be in control of our emotions and aware that we must come through this first game. We have to be able to play at the right moments and we have a point in our favour in that sense because we have players who have been here before. We hope we can give the fans something to smile about, they support us as ever and we'll look to start strong on Thursday and go as far as we can, which I hope means clinching the trophy'.
'It's a tournament anyone can win. If you're in good shape over those three days, come into it in good form, if you feel right throughout the competition and get fortunate with injuries, you can get your hands on the trophy. All eight of us know we have a chance of winning it and the levels are incredibly high. Four of the eight teams are among the best in European competition and the other four could quite easily be in there because they're playing some incredible basketball'.
Valencia Basket
'We have to be in control of our emotions and aware that we must come through this first game. We have to be able to play at the right moments and we have a point in our favour in that sense because we have players who have been here before. We hope we can give the fans something to smile about, they support us as ever and we'll look to start strong on Thursday and go as far as we can, which I hope means clinching the trophy'.
'Every opponent is tough and the path to winning a tournament of this stature is never easy. The key thing is for us to play our game and display the levels we can. If we do that, we'll have a good shot at the cup. Valencia are playing well but we have to impose our game'.
Versatile squad
'It's very important and it makes your job easier when things come up or you get injuries but it's also crucial to have a deep and very complete squad, like we do. If we don't pick up any injuries in training we'll be ready and the squad will be pretty much at full strength. That's vital with such a demanding schedule'.
Versatile squad
'It's very important and it makes your job easier when things come up or you get injuries but it's also crucial to have a deep and very complete squad, like we do. If we don't pick up any injuries in training we'll be ready and the squad will be pretty much at full strength. That's vital with such a demanding schedule'.