Marcelino: "Real Madrid is a difficult game against great opponents"

Valencia CF are in midweek action in LaLiga against Real Madrid, and coach Marcelino addressed the game in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday evening.

Fourth place

"Our main objective since the start of the season has been to get into the Top 4. It's very difficult, because this year we've played in the Champions League as well. It'very difficult because we had a very inconsistent start to the campaign. And it's very difficult because three places are locked up by three clubs who at the moment are at a higher level than the rest, and only one space remains for many other teams. The peak and the lowest points are practically in the same place."

Facing Real Madrid
"I think that beating Valencia CF at Mestalla is always a prestigious result, regardless of who you are. We expect the best version of Real Madrid, and we can see the importance they have given to this game with the number of rotations they made against Huesca. It's a very, very difficult game against great opponents with many great players."

Guedes' showing against Sevilla

"I liked that VCF won in Seville, in an important game, because of the great work done by the team. The coach makes the decisions that he sees fit, in order to take the best results possible. Guedes worked as hard as he could. He had spent 4 or 5 days ill in bed without being able to train, and now we hope to have  him ready for this game and the coming fixtures."

Zidane's return to Madrid
"Real Madrid and every other side are all about the level their players demonstrate. The coaches provide tools to try and optimise the performance of the players available to them, but it's evident that Zidane and the majority of the players he has have won 9 trophies from a possible 13 or 14. That shows the level of identification there is between the coaching staff and the squad. We're not going to fear Real Madrid more with one coach or another, but Zidane and Real Madrid have formed a winning tandem."