Maravilla Martínez's biblical message after Racing v Independiente | OneFootball

On Saturday afternoon, Racing fell 1-0 to Independiente in the Avellaneda derby on Matchday 13 of the Apertura Tournament. Although La Academia created the clearest chances at the Libertadores de América – Ricardo Enrique Bochini Stadium, the one who was guilty of being wasteful was the least expected: Adrián Martínez, who spoke out on social media this Monday.

Maravilla, the top scorer for Gustavo Costas’ team, missed a penalty in the first half by sending it over the crossbar as he tried to chip it. To make matters worse, in the second half he squandered a golden opportunity with Rodrigo Rey already beaten, and later had a shot from inside the box well saved by Santiago Arias.

“And to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, so that I would not exalt myself; -2 Corinthians 12:17,” was the Bible quote Racing’s striker chose to express himself after the criticism he received for his performance, especially for the penalty.

Costas strongly backs Maravilla

After the defeat against Independiente, Racing coach Gustavo Costas came out in support of Maravilla Martínez at the press conference. “What are we going to say to him? He’s given us so much…” he said. “He’s scored 200 goals, he’s given us so much… What are we going to say to him? If he had scored the penalty, we’d be talking about the brilliance of what he did. He decided to take it that way… We can’t kill a player who has given us so much just because he missed a penalty or another chance right under the goal. On the contrary, we have to lift him up and support him in every way,” he said.

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