Elche winger confident of pulling off a surprise vs Real Madrid – ‘We can do it’ | OneFootball

After an extraordinary win over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid will be full of confidence as they take on Elche this weekend.

It is a must-win game for Los Blancos in the context of the title race, with the team currently trailing league leaders Barcelona by four points.

Elche, though, are a tough nut to crack and had almost secured a victory against Real Madrid when the two sides met during the first half of the season. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.

This time around, Elche star German Valera is feeling equally optimistic about his team’s chances of pulling off an upset against a side that beat Manchester City 3-0 this midweek.

Valera on facing Real Madrid

Speaking ahead of the game, Valera was asked about the prospect of facing Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and whether or not his team has any chance.

“I think we can do it. In the home game, we already showed we deserved to win. Although the Bernabéu is a very difficult stadium, the team, despite our current form, remains very confident. We’re really eager and we’re going there to try and win,” he said.

Valera was also asked about Real Madrid’s brilliant result against Manchester City in midweek, where Federico Valverde’s first-half hat-trick secured them a 3-0 victory in the first leg.

“It’s Real Madrid, even if they rotate their squad, they’re a team with the best players in the world. It’s true they have a heavy workload of matches and that can be noticeable. Even so, it will be a very difficult match,” he said.

Valera acknowledged Real Madrid’s superb performance vs Man City (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Talking about Elche’s strategy heading into this game, Valera revealed that the idea is to make Real Madrid run as much as possible.

“That’s kind of the idea. It’s also true that, because of our style of football, we’ll try to wear them down with the ball so they’re not so fresh,” he added.

Valera further said that Elche must be together and not get overwhelmed by the crowd at Santiago Bernabeu.

“We have to be ourselves and know how to face difficult moments and not fall apart. That could be the key.

“When tough times come, we have to be more of a team than ever, stick together, and do what we know how to do. That’s what has worked for us,” he said.

Finally, the winger pointed out that Elche cannot afford to give Real Madrid the opportunity to take the lead, failing which they may suffer.

“Great teams punish you when you make a mistake. It’s something we’ve been talking about. In many phases of the game we play well as a team, but if they take the lead, we have to learn to suffer.

“I think that’s where we need to take another step forward to keep fighting despite conceding,” he concluded.

Source: Diario AS