Rubén Albés: “They were better than us today” 

C.D. Leganés head coach Rubén Albés held a press conference following the match between the Pepineros and C.D. Tenerife at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López Stadium, part of Matchday 5 of LALIGA HYPERMOTION 2026/27, which ended in a 2-0 loss.

The Blue-and-White coach assessed what happened on the field as follows:

Loss to a newly promoted team: “Their name is Tenerife, and that’s no joke. And Enric Gallego is Enric Gallego. It’s important for all of us to realize where we came to play—I said that in the preview. A magnificent team, well-organized, with good players, and today they were better than us. We didn’t understand how we were supposed to attack, and our defense was poor. That’s soccer. We hadn’t faced an opponent in this kind of setting before—we’d played against very good teams—and today we struggled to adapt.”

Morata: “He had two shots on goal; he took the most shots. But Morata doesn’t win games on his own—that’s soccer. If the team is playing well, Morata will be better. It’s the same for him as it is for everyone. When the team is playing well and we understand what we need to do, there’s a better chance of maximizing our performance. It’s a shame, because the guys gave it their all, but when it came to understanding how Tenerife could hurt us, we fell into those traps. It’s a team you don’t want to face if they take the lead.”

Less possession: “The first goal came from a penalty in a chaotic play, and the second came on a counterattack. The analysis goes deeper and is part of a process for us to learn and face reality. Today is a good day to say how happy I am with my roster and with my players’ day-to-day performance, regardless of the fact that they were better than us today.”

First loss: “We want to be at the top and we’re working toward that. I never like to lose, but I don’t know of any team that’s won every game. There’s only one team left undefeated, and that’s Castellón. All things considered, playing on the road is tough because teams tend to be better at home. We don’t like to lose, but it’s part of the game. We’re looking ahead—I’m proud of the players I have.”

Penalty: “The great Enric Gallego has drawn that penalty a thousand times. He breaks through, gets a slight touch, penalty. From there on, I don’t know. He does it very well—he’s the smartest player in the box—and the penalty is definitely callable. Today’s result has absolutely nothing to do with whether it was a penalty or not. We lost because Tenerife was better, and in other games we’ll try to be better ourselves, just as we have been on other occasions.”