Shortly before facing Hapoel Tel Aviv for the second derby of the season, central defender Luis Hernandez, spoke of the importance of the local derby and his past experiences from his native Spain.
“It is a very important match” Hernandez said at the pre-match press conference. We all know how this match is important for the club and the fans. The derby comes at a perfect timing for us. We are in good shape and need to maintain our form at this match as well so that we could come prepared for the Play-Off”.
The 31-year-old Spanish central defender who never played in a Play-Off system before, said: “This is the first time in my career that I play a regular season followed by a Play-Offs. But in any way I believe in the ability the team is showing over the past few months as it is important we maintain it together with our fighting spirit and team effort in the forthcoming match as well”.
The former Sporting Gijon, Leicester City and Malaga revealed his past derby experiences, or lack of them: “I played for Sporting Gijon but at the time Real Oviedo were not in the first division or when I was playing in the second division. Malaga doesn’t have the same situation as here with a local city derby. But they have a big regional battle with Sevilla and Granada so I played many matches there. Obviously for players it is very exciting to play such derbies and we know how important they are. Our mentality should be the same like previous matches – to be dominant, aggressive and try to score early like we did in our last few games.
