Post-Jornada 6 Hodgepodge

Aguirre on our recent victories:
“The players are beginning to believe and have understood that if they make sacrifices, they have enough quality to resolve matches…This has just gotten started and there are many matches left, but if we maintain this seriousness, we have the team to do great things.”

Hm, ‘sacrifices’. I’m sure he’s speaking of the rotations, and probably specifically about Maxi since he has been benched recently, but still been given quite a bit of playing time as a sub– he has been coming on early in the 2nd half. Aguirre also praised the three key players against Osasuna: Aguero, Raul Garcia, and Abbiati.

Speaking of which, 2nd choice goalkeeper Abbiati on his Liga debut:
“I’m happy with my debut It’s true that I didn’t have to work too much, and that’s good, because it means that we did things well. It was important to win and also to keep a clean sheet…I’d already played at Vicente Calderón and I really like the atmosphere here because you can feel the fans’ support. Clearly, I don’t like to play as a starter if it’s because of an injury to Leo Franco….The coach knows that I work hard at practice to be ready for the team when they need me. At the moment, the manager wants me to play the UEFA Cup matches and I’m happy becausewhat I want is to play.”

Maniche on the upcoming Barcelona match:
“Each match is different. We’re playing well at the moment and we have to take advantage of it. We know that we can play a great game at Camp Nou. We’re worried about all of the Barcelona players because they’re great professionals. I think that it will be an even match.”

Maniche also mentioned that a main goal is to reach the UEFA final and win it. As he says, there are ‘many matches ahead’, but they are ‘fully committed’ & ‘mentally prepared’ to go the distance.

Completely unrelated: Professional Spanish golfer SERGIO GARCIA is apparently a supporter of Atleti. He stopped by today during the training session to see the team. He talked a bit to Raul Garcia and Forlan, both of whom love golf. I say ‘apparently’ because he didn’t out-and-out say it, but I assume that when someone watches a training session, he must have some interest in the club. It’s featured on the club’s official website.

INJURY NEWS
re that training session: Miguel, Motta, Perea and Mista all trained separately as they are still on the road to recovery. Hm, I didn’t realise Mista was injured, which is weird since I keep track of these things rather obsessively. Too bad Motta won’t be fit in time for our game against Barcelona.

Rumour-Mill (read: WORRIES)
Aguero‘s fine form will no doubt attract the attention of other clubs. I’ve recently read that Juventus (among other clubs) are keen on making a serious offer for the Argentine. I sincerely hope we don’t lose the 19 year old at all- kun has settled down quite nicely this season and is such an immense part of this team.  Bottom-line: we must aim for a top 4 finish to keep our top players & to continue attracting talent.

REMINDER: UEFA FIRST ROUND 2nd LEG THIS THURDAY (4-October).
Click here to refresh your memory on our journey so far.