Costas on ‘mística’, avoids Arias question, aims dig at Vélez: ‘We’re going for it’ | OneFootball

Racing ended their streak of four consecutive defeats at the Cilindro de Avellaneda (the worst start in their history) by defeating San Lorenzo 2-0, and Gustavo Costas, the coach of the Academia, did not hide his satisfaction with the victory achieved in the 8th round of the Clausura tournament of the Professional League.

The return to victory also coincided with Costas' return to the bench, as the Professional League temporarily lifted his four-match suspension after he served two matches against Argentinos Juniors and Unión de Santa Fe, both defeats for the Academia.

“We’ve started, let me rest. We won a match…,” Costas began the conference in good spirits, which started with a question about the substitution of Facundo Cambeses for Gabriel Arias.

“Let me enjoy a little. What do you want? To stir things up again, which they then change… The group is fine, the one who is in the best form plays,” expressed Costas, who avoided the topic of the goalkeeper and focused on the importance of returning to being an intense team, while admitting they were “in debt” in the local tournament and did not hesitate to affirm they were “a disaster” in the last two matches.

After acknowledging that he rested Gastón Martirena and Juan Nardoni because they had some discomfort and today he needed to field players who were at 100%, Costas expressed that “we already have to think about Vélez, the Cup, and then Huracán. It’s going to be something nice. We have to take Racing to the top.”

The coach of the Academia reiterated that “the group is more united than ever” and asked that “everyone push forward to take Racing to the top.” He admitted: “We had to regain confidence. We lost two matches playing for nothing, we weren’t that hungry team, with that attitude. Today, we knew it was extremely difficult, San Lorenzo was doing well, it’s a classic. We had to play when we could. We won almost all the duels, which we had been constantly losing.”

“Today, the team regained that mystique, they hardly reached our goal. What I liked most was the team’s attitude, the personality to pull through a very difficult match because of the atmosphere,” analyzed Costas, who also had a disagreement with a journalist about the system used against San Lorenzo.

“I didn’t change the scheme. Do you always come to see Racing? Sometimes we’re a disaster, haha. We played better, we were more involved, more focused. What was happening wasn’t about whether you play with two, three, or four. It was all mental,” highlighted the coach.

Finally, Costas anticipated the quarter-final match of the Copa Libertadores against Racing and stated: “Racing will play as always, we’re going to go for it. We always go out to win the matches. It’s a moment where we have to know where we are, what it means for Racing.”

The Academia will visit Vélez next Tuesday, who today drew against Huracán with an alternative team, while a week later the semifinalist will be decided at the Cilindro de Avellaneda.

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