Martín Demichelis came out to speak after the very tough defeat that River suffered against Deportivo Riestra. Cristian Fabbiani’s team won 2-0 for the fifth round of the Professional League and Coach Millonario showed his face after the blow before the stoppage.
«This defeat, along with the elimination of Temperley and the elimination in the quarterfinals of the League Cup (against Boca), are just as painful. “It’s not what we want to be.”assured the DT.
Regarding the first stage, Micho stated that “the first half despite not having taken the lead… Knowing the difficulties of this team, which defends itself well, we could not open it. “The second half was pretty bad.” And he added that «The first ones hurt are us, me as a coach and the team. It is not funny at all to come to the Riestra field, with a lot of respect for this very humble and sacrificial institution, that we have lost three points here«.
The River coach also confessed that the team is not the same outside the Monumental: «We must do a meaculpa and an analysis among everyone. We were all talking with the group. We had ten very good days, and today we came out, we didn’t take the lead and they opened the scoring with a lateral foul. Afterwards, we couldn’t get in.”
He quickly sought to close the difficult chapter and thinks about the future: «What remains is very encouraging, Libertadores round of 16 with an Argentine team that will know how to compete, defining at home and everything that remains of this tournament, which I have no doubt that we will reach the end competing until the last date«.
In addition, he referred to the team’s preseason and stressed that “we are going to work very hard from July 1 so that what we are at home, we can also achieve it as a visitor, making in the first instance a meaculpa and bending efforts. I have no doubt that this team, working as it usually does, will show its face again, both in the Libertadores and in the tournament«.
Demichelis anticipated River’s transfer market
After the blow against Deportivo Riestra, the Millonario coach spoke about the names that are being talked about to reinforce the squad and only referred to the return of Felipe Peña Biafore.
«When we started my management, I was part of the squad but we all decided that I should go out and look for minutes. I think he did very well at Arsenal and Lanús, that’s why we have decided to get him back. It is a great example for all the young people of the institution, because there is not room for everyone, but we follow them and whoever does it well deserves to return. He is one of them and we will count on him,” said Micho.
And he downplayed the other names that were revealed: «All the rest are hypothetical things that are not concrete».
