I Believe in This Team
Since my last post, things have improved. We were underachieving, but things have change and now we’re determined to keep fighting in LaLiga.
A couple of personal highlights and career firsts have to be my goals in consecutive matches: the first against Sporting Gijón in the second leg of the Copa del Rey last 16 and the second against Celta de Vigo in LaLiga – my first goals in each respective competition.
We were, rather unfortunately, knocked out of the Champion’s League after Manchester United secured their fate with a last minute Fellaini winner against Young Boys. It was a frustrating way to exit the competition, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless. Now we are focussed on LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Europa League. There’s still plenty of work to do and we’re chipping away every day – staying focussed and staying hungry.
My buddy from Leaderbrock – Rubén Sobrino – has joined the team, and made a very positive impression with a debut goal against Celtic in the first leg of the round of 32. Congrats Sobri!
Valencia-Getafe – uff, what a game! There is some history between the two clubs and it all came to a head in a heated battle in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter final. They had won the first leg 1-0 at home, and were up 1-0 again at the Mestalla after just a minute. Rodrigo made it 1-1 on the 61st minute, but things stagnated after that. With so many stoppages, we were awarded 10 minutes of extra time. That gave us and the fans a massive boost, and well… the rest is history. Rodrigo’s goals two and three minutes into extra time sealed our fate and the Mestalla erupted! It was an honour to experience that, and it’s a memory that I’ll take with me forever.
We recently beat Celtic 1-0 at home, putting us through to the round of 16 where we’ll play FC Krasnodar. We’re positive of the outcome of that game, but we must keep in mind that this is the team that just knocked out Bayer Leverkusen and they should not be underestimated.
With the upcoming trip to Russia and my recent interview in Japan’s leading football magazine, World Soccer Digest, I’m starting to get messages from fans outside of Spain. I love receiving these types of messages and I can’t wait to finally visit all of these amazing places!
For now though, we must focus on the road ahead, and use our momentum to move forward in all competitions. I still believe we can win a title this season!
¡Amunt!