Amaya: Granada is the most important game of the season for Betis
Real Betis defender Antonio Amaya has admitted that the 5-0 thrashing by Valencia at the weekend was a huge blow for the team, but insists that they can do little about it now, other than roll up their sleeves and look for three points at Granada next Sunday.
Appearing at a press call on Tuesday, Real Betis defender Antonio Amaya had little to say about the 5-0 defeat at Valencia over the weekend, other than admitting that whilst his team had been far from their best, their opponents enjoyed one of their strongest performances of the season.
“The game against Espanyol had breathed life into us. We believed we could take something positive at Valencia. We’ve encountered the best Valencia performance of the season and our performance wasn’t good enough, but they had an awesome game.”
Morale has obviously taken a dent after what happened at Valencia, but Amaya feels confident that his team can take crucial points away at Granada, in Sunday’s midday La Liga clash.
“After a defeat you always feel down. All we can do now is think about the game at Granada. They’re a rival who we can cut points against. We can do that and we’re convinced we’ll have our chances. We have to keep fighting. We need to get a push forward, that would come from winning at Granada.”
Granada are also in need of points to avoid slipping down towards the relegation zone, after three consecutive defeats, which is something that the Betis defender hopes can work in his team’s favour.
“It’s the most important game of the season for us, because it’s also the most immediate game. Granada might also be feeling down though, because they also head into the game on the back of a bad run.”
As for Betis still being rooted to the foot of the league table, Amaya insists that there’s no other way to pull themselves out of the mire, than through hard work and persistence, whilst also encouraging the fans to believe and have faith.
“We’re upset about where we are, given we’re last and with the same difficulties getting out of the relegation zone. There’s nothing else we can do but keep battling, train hard to lift the fans and ourselves. I would tell the fans not to doubt our work. The players try to block things out of their minds, it’s a very complicated situation in which we’ve been taking one blow after another.”
Though Betis managed to win and produce a very solid performance against Espanyol, manager Gabriel Calderón changed from having successfully played five at the back, to a different approach against Espanyol. Amaya insists that the manager had planned the way he and the team thought best, but added that he would be happy to see a return of the five-man defensive system.
“I thought it was a spectacular system. After such a long time without winning, the manager changed the system and we won 2-0, so why not use that in more games? The manager planned for the game in a way we believed in. It didn’t turn out well. Valencia are a great team. We lost 5-0, but it wasn’t the system we used that was to blame.”
Finally and regarding his long-term future at the club, Amaya assured that whether Betis are in the Primera or the Segunda next season, he doesn’t want to be anywhere else and hopes to tie up his contract renewal soon.
“My agent is dealing with that, but if everything goes well, I’ll be staying at Betis. I’m aware of how things are at the club. Even in the worst situation of Betis dropping to the Segunda, it’s a better place to be than at least ten other clubs in the Primera and I’m clear about that. My family and I want to stay at Betis.”
Real Betis defender Antonio Amaya has admitted that the 5-0 thrashing by Valencia at the weekend was a huge blow for the team, but insists that they can do little about it now, other than roll up their sleeves and look for three points at Granada next Sunday.
Appearing at a press call on Tuesday, Real Betis defender Antonio Amaya had little to say about the 5-0 defeat at Valencia over the weekend, other than admitting that whilst his team had been far from their best, their opponents enjoyed one of their strongest performances of the season.
“The game against Espanyol had breathed life into us. We believed we could take something positive at Valencia. We’ve encountered the best Valencia performance of the season and our performance wasn’t good enough, but they had an awesome game.”
Morale has obviously taken a dent after what happened at Valencia, but Amaya feels confident that his team can take crucial points away at Granada, in Sunday’s midday La Liga clash.
“After a defeat you always feel down. All we can do now is think about the game at Granada. They’re a rival who we can cut points against. We can do that and we’re convinced we’ll have our chances. We have to keep fighting. We need to get a push forward, that would come from winning at Granada.”
Granada are also in need of points to avoid slipping down towards the relegation zone, after three consecutive defeats, which is something that the Betis defender hopes can work in his team’s favour.
“It’s the most important game of the season for us, because it’s also the most immediate game. Granada might also be feeling down though, because they also head into the game on the back of a bad run.”
As for Betis still being rooted to the foot of the league table, Amaya insists that there’s no other way to pull themselves out of the mire, than through hard work and persistence, whilst also encouraging the fans to believe and have faith.
“We’re upset about where we are, given we’re last and with the same difficulties getting out of the relegation zone. There’s nothing else we can do but keep battling, train hard to lift the fans and ourselves. I would tell the fans not to doubt our work. The players try to block things out of their minds, it’s a very complicated situation in which we’ve been taking one blow after another.”
Though Betis managed to win and produce a very solid performance against Espanyol, manager Gabriel Calderón changed from having successfully played five at the back, to a different approach against Espanyol. Amaya insists that the manager had planned the way he and the team thought best, but added that he would be happy to see a return of the five-man defensive system.
“I thought it was a spectacular system. After such a long time without winning, the manager changed the system and we won 2-0, so why not use that in more games? The manager planned for the game in a way we believed in. It didn’t turn out well. Valencia are a great team. We lost 5-0, but it wasn’t the system we used that was to blame.”
Finally and regarding his long-term future at the club, Amaya assured that whether Betis are in the Primera or the Segunda next season, he doesn’t want to be anywhere else and hopes to tie up his contract renewal soon.
“My agent is dealing with that, but if everything goes well, I’ll be staying at Betis. I’m aware of how things are at the club. Even in the worst situation of Betis dropping to the Segunda, it’s a better place to be than at least ten other clubs in the Primera and I’m clear about that. My family and I want to stay at Betis.”
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