Espanyol vs Celta Vigo preview - Celta right place for me - Enrique

Posted Saturday, January 18, 2014 by PA

Celta Vigo coach Luis Enrique has stressed he remains convinced he made the right decision to come to the club and is confident they will improve in the second half of the season.

When he was appointed to the post over the summer, former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Enrique took charge of an outfit who had finished 2012/13 in 17th place in the Primera Division, just a point clear of the relegation zone.

Now, at the midway point of the 2013/14 campaign, Celta are 15th, three points above the drop zone following a 2-1 win over Valencia - their first victory in four league games.

Ahead of Saturday's trip to Espanyol, Enrique, quoted by Marca, said: "I thought Celta was the right place for me and after six or seven months, I still think the same.

"Much remains and we see that it is still very difficult, but I remain convinced that I was right in my decision.

"For a coach like me, it is a joy to work with this group.

"We have not had any serious discipline problems to date and I doubt there will be any because this is a great group of people.

"It is important to have good players but, for me, more important is that before they are players, they are people, all working together."

He added: "Still our time has not come in this league, but I'm convinced that the team will improve. That is what I have told the players.

"Hopefully the team can make a leap and reach for a slightly more comfortable position.

"If not, we will be prepared to fight hard, as we have done in these first 19 weeks."

Espanyol, currently 12th, go into the contest having suffered back-to-back defeats in their previous two league outings, but they did win their last match - a 4-2 victory on Wednesday at home over Segunda Division side Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey.

It was far from straightforward, with the visitors being 1-0 up and then making it 2-2 with 10 minutes to go before eventually succumbing.

But Espanyol forward and captain Sergio Garcia feels the contest did the team some good.

"We needed a night like that," he said.

"It seems complicated but we were convinced we could win the tie.

"It looked as if everything was going to ruin, but we were able to react and that will come in handy for our upcoming games."