Maravilla Martínez on Racing v Peñarol: "He caught my elbow, I fell" | OneFootball

In an epic Copa Libertadores night, Racing defeated Peñarol 3-1, overturning a 1-0 loss in the first leg and qualifying for the quarterfinals, where they will face Vélez. One of the heroes of La Academia was Adrián Martínez, who ended his 'drought' and scored a brace. Maravilla spoke with TyC Sports, discussed his moment and gave his version of the penalty play that sparked controversy and anger in Manya.

"It was a very beautiful moment, with our people. We fought until the last minute and to win like this, with nothing left, is doubly enjoyable. When you score like this it's a huge relief. For us, the forwards, it's hard when you don't score because the team needs you. I had the peace of mind that I had been scoring many goals and it happens to everyone," he declared. "Football, especially in Argentina, is very even, games end 0-0 or 1-0. I had the peace of mind that at some point I would have the chance," he added.

"I wasn't missing two or three per game, we weren't getting clear chances, it was costing us as a team. We as forwards know that we have to solve some or generate it ourselves, because if they always serve it to you it's very easy," he expressed. "I hadn't had chances, in some games I hadn't even shot, I had the peace of mind that it would come to me," he added.

On the other hand, he didn't attribute the bad streak to the departure of Maximiliano Salas, with whom he had formed a great duo. "It also happened to me with Salas that I went four or five games without scoring goals, it's not that he made me score them. Now in four games we scored one or two at most," he opined. "Sometimes teammates tease you and I tell them they don't give me a pass, haha. With Salas we already had that friction that we knew each other, we shared a room and it was a plus. But it has happened to me that I didn't score goals and always with the peace of mind that Racing is a team that attacks and some will stay with me, it depends on me that it goes into the goal," he concluded.

When the match at the Cilindro was 1-1 and Racing was eliminated on aggregate, Wilmar Roldán awarded a penalty for a foul on Adrián Martínez, which sparked controversy in Peñarol. Maravilla, who also took charge of converting it into a goal, gave his version of the play.

"In the first half there is a play where the goalkeeper leaves a rebound, I want to poke it and one pushes me from behind. The referee told me 'get up'. I think he went to see it later and was left with a guilty conscience," he explained on TyC Sports. "In the second, the ball is left for me to volley, when I'm with one foot in the air, he puts his elbow on me and I throw myself. He put his elbow so hard that I wanted to stand firm and hold him to face him, but he pushed me and I went with the ball, I held on as long as I could my strength, I didn't want to throw myself because he hadn't charged me the previous one, but the weight of the player pushed me forward, otherwise I wouldn't throw myself there," he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.