Pepe Mel stated in Abegondo’s press room this morning “again and again, bashful and ashamed, I have to apologise to Deportivo’s people because I think we can give so much more. It’s normal for them to be demanding”.

Moreover, he emphasized 2if I were a Dépor fan I would be pissed off, not because Real Madrid scored 6, because they’ve scored 6 and 8 here. It’s not about that. They can beat you because they are way above you. But they’re things we have to avoid so that people don’t get angry. We have to fight every ball, we didn’t tackle until the 20th minute, people aren’t dumb, they can see it and they show how they feel about it”.

For this reason, he insisted “we have a wonderful and great moment tomorrow for people to rest, reset their minds, and be able to sit down and expect to see a better Dépor in the last three matches”.

At this stage of the season, the Deportivista coach believes “it’s not the time for words. People get tired of listening to me. It’s time for actions, for facts Words don’t mean anything anymore. It’s time for Deportivo as a Club, as a team, to make a stand by winning this match and sealing the season”. “The result can go any way, because nobody can control the game, loads of things can happen that are out of your hands. But when the match ends, and we look at each other in the eye, we can say ‘we gave our all’, ‘we tried everything’, our shirt is soaking wet. Then there will be no problem. If we lose that way, I will come out here, defend everyone, and I will be proud”, he added.

He preferred not to speak about the future before tomorrow’s game against Osasuna in El Sadar (12 pm, Bein Sports), a game that could mathematically seal Deportivo’s season: “At a quarter to two, people have to be calm. We have to return to Coruña with the sensation that our job has been done, and think how we have to do much better in the future, everyone, absolutely everyone”.

Mel described Dépor’s rival, who will relegate at the end of the season: “As the name says, it’s a club of warriors that never give up, with tremendous fans. A club in which players will surely want to prove to their people that they are not going to give away the matches that are left. They are not going to give us anything at all. It’s a club with young people, homegrown, who know what it’s like to feel the colours. I’m expecting a complicated match”.