Alvarez targets half-century - 7M sport

Alvarez targets half-century



Posted Saturday, May 23, 2015 by PA

Espanyol coach Sergio Alvarez has admitted his side's chances of clinching seventh spot and a Europa League place are slim, but hopes his side can surpass the 50-point mark for the first time in a decade.

The Catalans need to win at Celta Vigo and hope Athletic Bilbao lose to Villarreal if they are to finish seventh.

A more straightforward aim is to reach a half-century of points, which will occur if they get a draw or a win at Balaidos.

"You have to believe that anything can happen, but it's not in our heads at the moment. What we have to do at the moment is believe in ourselves. We have to beat Celta and then we'll see," Gonzalez told a press conference.

"Getting to 52 points would be like getting over a huge fence and make us one of the best Espanyol sides in history. We want to make our own bit of history. Important statistics like these always add up.

"It's always better to finish seventh rather than eighth or ninth or 10th, but Celta are playing at home and will want to bid farewell to their fans in the best way possible. They play very good football and it's going to be a great match."

Gonzalez has a clean bill of health for the final game of the season, while his opposite number Eduardo Berizzo will be without Nemanja Radoja, Carles Planes and Borja Oubina through injury.

It is set to be an emotional game for Celta, as club captain Oubina has announced he is retiring from football as a result of the knee injury which has kept him playing a single minute this season.

And Danish international Michael Krohn-Dehli has also announced Saturday's match is to be his last for the club. Krohn-Dehli has revealed he is joining another club in Spain in order to play European football, with that club widely believed to be Sevilla.

Celta go into the game one point and two league positions behind Espanyol, and goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez said the Galicians had had a "notable" season under Berizzo.

He told a press conference: "We always believed in ourselves, we haven't renounced our style of play even when things were going badly and apart from in a few matches in which we weren't at our best, the team has played good football throughout the year, which is very difficult to achieve."

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