Real Sociedad coach convinced of beating Madrid to reach the final

Real Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said he was convinced of "going through to the final" of the Copa del Rey if his team is capable of "playing a good game" against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

The ‘Txuri-urdin’ coach stressed in a press conference that he wants to experience more "magical nights" like the one on Tuesday, and made it clear that the team will fight until the end to achieve it.

Ambitious, but with his feet on the ground, as he was clear that the big favourite of the night is Real Madrid: "Aware of the team in front of us, the favourite to win everything, what we are thinking about is winning the game, as we are just one game away from a final that we want to play with fans", in reference to the cup title that the San Sebastian side won in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Up against him will be Carlo Ancelotti, a coach that the coach from Guipuzcoa admires, given that "he has more than proved in his long career and in all the teams he has been in what a great coach he is."

He compared Real Madrid's favouritism with that which Real Sociedad had last year in the semi-final against RCD Mallorca: "Last year, we were probably the favourites against Mallorca and this year it's the other way around." "The games have to be played," he added.

On Monday morning, the last training session before leaving for Madrid was held, with Mikel Oyarzabal not finishing the session with his teammates, although Imanol took the opportunity to calm down the ‘Txuri-urdin’ fans: "We took the risk on Saturday and he hasn't suffered, despite not having done all the training to be at 100%."