With a much more relaxed expression than one would expect after breaking a historic streak (31 wins at home in the BCL) and after his disqualification, Txus Vidorreta appeared in the Santiago Martín press room with a clear message: the objective has been achieved. The Aurinegro coach was “very happy” for a new classification for the Top 16, an entire decade without failing in the second phase.
“It was a day where there was a small risk, because when there is pressure – even if it is light – there are players who respond better and others who do not so much,” he explained. Even so, he insisted that the team acted wisely to achieve the priority objective: «Today (yesterday) was to lose by six or less and we achieved it. We are first, we avoid the play-in and we will not have a really important Champions League match until the end of January”, since the Top 16 starts on the 20th of that month. Roadmap that, he stressed, will allow him to “give rest on Tuesday (against Herzliya) to those who need it” and calmly prepare for what is to come.
And what is coming, in the words of Vidorreta, is “great news.” The European derby against Gran Canaria. Unprecedented crossing in BCL that the coach welcomed naturally. «We are already used to playing against them in the preseason, Endesa League, and Cup, and now it will be the first time in the Champions League. Have a good trip, teams that know each other, and then may the best win,” he commented.
Regarding the match against Trapani, Vidorreta did not avoid self-criticism. He acknowledged that the team “disconnected” after the initial 8-0 and that several sections were marked by errors inappropriate for the level of the Aurinegro club. «We scored the first two triples and then we missed 13 in a row. We almost broke a record for losses at home with 11 at halftime, eight of them in the second quarter. We did enough to be only seven down,” he said. n
