Dreams can come true

We made history.

Apart from La Liga’s big three of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, very few teams can get 81 points in a season and qualify for the Champions League.

Honestly, I don't think many people thought we were capable of doing that. Of being able to stay in the top places throughout the season.

But we did it. Hard work pays off.

It has led to the Champions League music being played for the first time at our stadium, Montilivi, and away games including PSG at the Parc des Princes and AC Milan at San Siro. 

So let me tell you how we did it, in a 2023/24 season that for me was divided into three parts. The first could easily be titled: ‘From pre-season to the game against Real Madrid.’ 

As a coach, when you start a season, you always have uncertainty. At least that is what happens to me. Even more so at the start of the 2023/24 season, because of how our summer had unfolded – quite hectic, with many changes to the squad.

All that uncertainty led to a question: what will be the objective of this team? I got the answer on the first day of training, when I saw that the players who had arrived were different. That summer we brought in some special players, including Daley Blind, Savinho, Artem Dovbyk, Yangel Herrera, Iván Martín and Portu.

“Our bravery was perhaps something of a mistake, because they showed us no mercy”

From that moment on, the team's objectives were based on what the players showed in training. I always say that a player can put in maximum performance on a day-to-day basis. Then there is competition in training, which gives you that final touch of quality that makes you reach the desired level to compete on match days.

In pre-season we were quite demanding, because we played against high-level opponents including Lazio and Napoli. We didn't lose any of those games and had the feeling that training with all these high-level players through pre-season was going to give us good results in the league.

And so it turned out, although the start we made exceeded all our expectations. After winning seven and drawing one of our first eight games, we faced Real Madrid at Montilivi. In the first few minutes we had the feeling that we could go toe-to-toe with them. But our bravery was perhaps something of a mistake, because they showed us no mercy.

They took a 1-0 lead after 17 minutes and we then had a 15-minute slump. They took advantage and made it 2-0. From then on, they controlled the game very well and we found it very difficult to play against them. In the end, it finished 3-0 to Real Madrid. For us, that was a reality check.

But I always like to see the positive side. Instead of focusing on what we had done wrong or feeling sorry for ourselves, we drew positive conclusions from that game and what we had done before. That is how I put it to the players: “It's okay. We were beaten convincingly by Real Madrid, but in all the previous games – and even in the first minutes against Madrid – I had the feeling that we can grow as the season progresses.”

“Any doubts about how the players would react were emphatically answered”

Then there was the question of what would happen in training after the Real Madrid defeat. How would the players respond?

It gives me a lot of peace of mind to see the team train. That comes from seeing how demanding the training is, the team’s good habits, or that a player comes to train ‘from zero’. What does ‘from zero’ mean? It's about not thinking about what happened before, and working to your maximum.

That is the most important thing for me. I don’t care how a player played in the previous game. They have to come to training ‘from zero’ to keep growing and to help the team.

That is exactly what happened the week after our defeat against Real Madrid. The players didn’t train the same as before; they trained even better, with more desire. Any doubts about how the players would react were emphatically answered by them. That was the beginning of the second part of the season.

It also helped a lot that we had a mix of veteran and young players, as well as a great sporting culture. Older players such as Cristhian Stuani, Juanpe, Juan Carlos and Bernardo Espinosa provided leadership – a very good balance to all the exciting young players we had, who everyone was speaking about. Savinho, Yan Couto, Miguel Gutiérrez, Arnau Martínez – young players who perhaps had less mental balance to face both defeat and victory.

“They dealt with the rumours quite well and it didn’t affect their daily performance”

In the second part of the season we showed a very high level, which led people to believe that we could even fight for the league. Did we believe that was possible? If I am honest, my thoughts were elsewhere. My fear was the winter transfer window, because the team’s play had elevated. The younger players were operating at a high level.

During the Christmas holidays and the whole of January, when the market was open, there were many moments when our players were being talked about by other teams. They all looked like they had offers, and some looked like they were going to leave. 

As a coach, managing all of this is not easy. But I was lucky that we had young players who came from great youth teams and had learnt to be the focus of attention. So they dealt with the rumours quite well and it didn’t affect their daily performance – which I am always most aware of – at all. That is when I realised that the team was going to maintain the balance that had led us not only to the top of La Liga in January, but also to a great leap in quality.

Until the Real Madrid game in February. Yes, Real Madrid again.

We approached this game at the Santiago Bernabéu as a key staging point for us. It would show if we could fight for the league or not. Winning the league was not what we had in mind at the beginning of the season, but this game would measure whether we were capable of doing it. It was a second reality check, however. We lost 4-0.

“Victory would have meant people would really believe we could fight for the league”

I didn’t have the right approach for that game. Why? I demanded a lot from the team in terms of the personality I wanted from them to play at the Bernabéu in such an important game. After the game I told the players to be calm – that it was my fault. They had carried out the game plan I wanted, and it didn’t work out. So it was 100 per cent my responsibility.

Playing Real Madrid in their stadium is not easy, and perhaps we could have played the game differently. But I wanted to dream of taking the step towards winning, because victory would have meant people would really believe we could fight for the league. It was all or nothing for the title. Unfortunately, nothing came of it.

And that was where we got to the third part of the season. The final chapter.

After losing to Real Madrid, we dropped any thoughts of fighting for the league and focused on the idea of playing in a European competition. If possible, the Champions League. But that is not easy for a team of our capabilities.

When people talk about the dynamics of winning in football, it can seem that this dynamic simply conjures itself – and that winning every weekend is easy. Maybe it is for teams like Real Madrid or Barcelona, because victories are routine for them. But for us, winning every game was super-difficult and complicated. We could only win if we gave our maximum at all times.

“I remember those games not because I was nervous, but because I wanted to transmit a bit of uncertainty”

I didn’t calculate the points we would need to reach the Champions League. We had to go game by game, and make brutal demands in training. We wanted to ensure the players left nothing behind, and were capable of fighting for every point.

In that sense, I was very demanding with the players on a day-to-day basis. I put a lot of pressure on them to win the games and avoid any complacency.

I remember those games not because I was nervous, but because I wanted to transmit a bit of uncertainty. Often, with uncertainty, you make the players more awake. They stay on their toes. And we needed it, because behind us fighting for places in the Champions League were Atlético Madrid and Athletic Club. Of the three teams, we were the least experienced in that situation.

All of which meant that we had to do a lot of work with the players regarding the message. Many of my talks were geared in that direction: “We have to be supportive of the team. We shouldn’t think about ourselves, we have to give the maximum as a group.” All of that, over and over again on a daily basis, to get the best individual version of the player for the benefit of the team.

In May, we faced one of the most important games in the club’s history: Barcelona at home. We knew that if we won, we would have Champions League qualification in our hands.

At the beginning, we felt a lot of pressure. The players were more blocked than ever, because of the demands of the game and its significance. In the first half, Barcelona were far superior and deservedly took the lead.

“Portu coming on was, I believe, the best substitute appearance in La Liga”

In the second half we got our identity back, because we weren’t being ourselves until that moment. We could win, lose or draw, but we had always been a team with an identity. Even in the most difficult matches against Real Madrid, we never abandoned our playing identity.

But I also appealed to our supporters with the introduction of Portu and Stuani. They are two players who are very much loved by the fans, and who always give you extra energy when you play at home.

Portu coming on was, I believe, the best substitute appearance in La Liga. He scored two goals, but above all he gave the team incredible energy. We were 2-1 down when he came on, and the game ended with us winning 4-2. That says it all.

For us, that game against Barça was an incredible day. And we will always remember it, because we had qualified for the Champions League. We fulfilled an almost impossible dream.

But the story continues. That is why we keep working hard, because we know it is the only way we can relive such incredible moments.