Martín Demichelis recalled Nicolás Figal’s quote: “Boca didn’t even play a good game”

It has been a difficult week for Martín Demichelis. After the win that River received from fluminense In the Libertadores Cup, the coach felt enormous pressure ahead of his first Superclásico as manager of River. But he carried on and let off steam with the heartbreaking victory thanks to the penalty converted by Miguel Borgia.

He spoke of the sentence of Figal, who had defined the Monumental “Gallinero”. “To answer you more directly, tell me who spoke. I’ll tell you: for many it was definitely a chicana, for me he spoke with a lot of respect. Do you know why? Because he said ‘we were going to win in Chile and we’ll play a good game at Gallinero'”. About 85,000 people came. It was a respectful foul. It is the largest club-level stadium in South America. He didn’t say he came to win, but to play a good game,” said the River coach.

“We came from a very hard blow, no one in this sport likes to lose. Scoring 5 goals with River hurts. What we shouldn’t have done was lose form, line, behaviour, because until Leandro’s expulsion we had done a great first half today against the best team in Brazil, we went out feeling like we could win, from that side I wanted to concentrate the players so that they didn’t lose the feeling of all the good that had been done “After the red card we defended badly, but for the spirit we have, many also jumped under pressure with a numerical disadvantage and with the hierarchy made us feel that we were wrong. We have already learned and will certainly continue to fight in the Cup. I have no doubts,” Micho said at the press conference.

And he added: “During the week I will make a lot of mistakes, the first day I told the players… I’m not proud of it, but I’d rather make mistakes by trying to aim for a draw and a win than making a mistake to be petty. Another day I was super convinced that we could go 11 vs 11 and when we were 2-1 I opted to go with a 3 line and put more players in the middle and offense to keep them fighting It’s easy to talk to the paper Wednesday, I was very unbalanced”.

And on the match he analyzed: “An opponent who comes from the victories of the last few games obviously with an emotional growth, so the moment we stopped pressing him like in the first half they started putting together some passes, but without gravitating. Franco in the 90s ‘ hardly received shots, if there was a team that deserved to win it was us, we never stopped looking for it, they saw it from the substitutions… Thank God, even if it came in the final minute, that victory it arrived so coveted by the fans that three hours before the start they filled the Monumental. Yesterday we also had a reception before arriving here in the corridors of the stadium… what can I tell you. them. Not only to those who came today, but to those who went to Brazil and are with us all over the world”.

Then the coach added: “I just said it: all these previous days I was certain that we would play a great match and that we would react to what we experienced in Brazil. We felt at ease in front of the five line together, we found the passes, how to dominate them from a positional point of view, we just needed to finish the last serve well on the pitch, we had a smart game, with substitutions we showed that we want Sometimes, to have so many good players on the pitch pushes you to make many offensive substitutions: Matías came on for Suárez, Borja, Rondón, Simón stayed, Paradela missed due to the penalty… When you do it and look at your bench, you have a lot to put in, because winning takes and aiming for victory makes you make mistakes, luckily they beat the final today”.

Meanwhile, speaking of Miguel Borja and the forwards, he commented: “I know the forwards will give us important goals and points. As I’ve seen Miguel train well, enjoy scoring goals… he has a great hierarchy. Then I decided to train differently because I have good midfielders who give me many things and I have to fire him, or Salomón, or Pablo Solari, who is here to play much more than him, it’s difficult to please everyone, we have a great squad, but they work very humbly and respect, they will follow us from the bench: 11 games won and one team won tournaments”.

Regarding Boca’s approach, he said: “I don’t know if their approach was austere… With that approach they ended up being superior in Colo Colo, they beat Racing well from the start, then they controlled the game. I don’t “I think it was austere. We made it look like this, austere: we were very dominant with pressing and ball possession, we didn’t allow them to make those transitions that work for them because they have very fast players. Winner, it was us.”

As for the emotion he felt after the victory, he dedicated the victory to his family, who were at the stadium and then accompanied him to the press conference: “I don’t want to look to the right because I get emotional, but I tell you that I want to dedicate it to my family, to my wife, who has decided to come to Argentina. We come from experiencing a very special week”.

And on what the Superclásico generates, Demichelis expressed: “It’s a privilege to be one of the two coaches of this classic. I’m not the one who should put together the podium, but it’s one of the most important in the world, and to be in this classic gives me It’s a source of pride. I am more than grateful to the institution and the people, to whom I dedicate it. To those who support my family through thick and thin. I lived it calmly. I try to lead a life normal outside the training.” “I saw a close-knit team, with a thirst for revenge. Sometimes frustrations, like when they scored 5 goals against us, make you thirst for revenge, anger, the desire to return to play. The best rival we could have after that match This was one, one that stimulated us a lot”