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González: "If we go at 120 percent, they will have a hard time beating us"

The RCD Espanyol coach talks ahead of the game with Real Madrid

Manolo González does not want any kind of relaxation amongst his team, and wants his team to spring a surprise against Real Madrid on Saturday night. He spoke ahead of the game in his pre-match press conference.

"Both the players and the coaching staff are sure that, with the support of our fans, we can be capable of beating Real Madrid or any team in LaLiga," he told the media.

"We held out for 70 long minutes at the Bernabéu, and we will have moments to be able to press them and attack. That is the idea. We have to be able to suffer and find the balance between both things. We need to be intelligent and also be brave. At home we are strong and if we go at 120 percent, they will have a hard time beating us."

González added that his players are at the “most 'conscious' moment of the season. We are aware that you have to have a great capacity for suffering to win games. Away to Sevilla we had it, and that will make us stronger."

Regarding the criticism that opposition coach Carlo Ancelotti has been receiving, he points out that “his professional career, as a player and as a coach, speaks for itself. But there comes a time in football when everything is discussed. I don't go to a surgeon and tell him how to operate, because I don't have a clue. In football, everything can be criticised, even if you have won 1000 Champions Leagues. For me, he is an example in terms of his behaviour towards opposition coaches."

Finally, he emphasised that winning would mean "a very happy day, not comparable to what our promotion meant, but it would be a very good victory for the dressing room. We are aware of what we are, but also that working and competing at the level we have at home, it is difficult for them to beat us. It would be a great day to dedicate to the fans, with the way they are suffering. It would be a day in which you leave happy and proud of your team."