Borja Jiménez: “This team has soul, and their lives depend on it”

The coach of C.D. Leganés, Borja Jiménez, appeared this Thursday at a press conference after the match between the team and Girona F.C. at the Estadio Municipal Butarque, corresponding to the thirty-third round of LALIGA EA SPORTS, and which ended with a draw for the Blue and Whites.

The coach acknowledged that “It doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth, I ended up tired, so I can sense how the players are. They are exhausted. Today we defended more than in other matches, we controlled many phases of the game, but we made a mistake, another one, and it's not the first one. We are very self-critical and we know what we are playing for”, he pointed out.

Borja regretted not having been able to give the fans a victory: “We wanted to win. The players, ourselves, the fans... A draw is not what we were looking for, but it is also true that with 0 points today we would be talking about something else. At least the team is still alive, and every time it seems dead, it gets up. Hopefully this is a turning point that will help us to save the category”.

The coach was full of praise for the commitment of his players: “The guys are going to the limit. Valentín played with a limp for half the game, Dani, we don't know how he finished it, Munir fought in a very complicated week for him... This team has soul, and their lives depend on it. I can't reproach them for anything in terms of effort”.

As for the management of the match, he explained: “The first change was forced by Alti's yellow card. We wanted to keep the two lines of four, but the team was sinking a lot. From that point on, we put in one more midfielder and I think we were pretty good defensively, even with one less”.

Jiménez emphasized the difficulty of playing at a disadvantage: “I always insist: playing with 10 players at this level is very complicated. The message was clear, as it was against Rayo: 'we have to be alive'. And they were. Duk did an incredible job, he came on and did very well. I'm very happy for him and I've passed that on to him”.

On the group's state of mind, he was clear: “We have to work from the head. If we focus on making accounts, we are going to get depressed. That's not what it's about. It's about going to Seville with a positive mentality. And we want to win. We are going to win.

Finally, he valued the support from the club: “The president and the club are aware of the work we do. They see us every day. Of course, that support is comforting. I understand the fans, because we don't win, and we have to win. We know that. That's why we are going to Seville to give everything, because this objective we have ahead of us is too beautiful not to fight until the end”.