Ignacio Martinez, coach of Levante, a veteran coach from 1954, started his coaching career from the youth academy, took over the regional league teams, and was promoted to La C, La B, and La Liga, with rich coaching experience.

Last season, he coached Cartagena, a team in La Liga, leading Cartagena to a 13th place finish in La Liga, and became Levante coach at the end of the season.

After he came to Levante, he gave the team a new look, played positively, and had a remarkable record, once occupying the top position in La Liga, making Levante the biggest dark horse in La Liga this season.

In the Copa del Rey, they beat former La Liga powerhouse Deportivo La Coruna to advance to the fifth round.

Now the team is in a high-speed improvement stage, and the morale is high.

Undoubtedly, the draw of the D-division team in Santa Málaga in the fifth round is a good draw for him and his team.

Speaking to the media as soon as the draw came out, he said: "It's a good draw for us, so there's no reason why we shouldn't go to the next round.

It was a real surprise for Santa Malaga to knock out Zaragoza and it showed that they have a certain quality.

When I was coaching a regional league team, I played against a lot of D-League teams and I knew that some of them were very good.

There are also a lot of players in the D-division team, who have received professional training from professional clubs, and have a certain level.

Santa Málaga are the best of the D-tier teams, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten where they are.

Truth be told, the D-tier team can only be considered an amateur team.

Pro and A-Am are two completely different concepts, and although Santa Málaga is a strong team among amateur teams, there is still a clear gap between them and professional teams.

I studied the video of their last match against Zaragoza and they do have a couple of players in their squad who are good and almost at the level of a professional player.

That's the main reason why they made it to the fifth round.

However, in terms of overall strength, there is still a clear gap between them and professional teams.

Of course, we don't take any opponent lightly and we don't repeat the mistakes that Zaragoza did, so we take this good D team seriously.

I don't think it's a big problem for us to qualify for the next round.

My main job now is to play in La Liga, which is the focus of my work, at least in this round of the Copa del Rey I don't have to worry about anything and I don't focus too much. ”

Levante coach Ignacio Martinez was full of confidence in an interview, and although he said that he would value Santa Málaga, his words were full of disdain for San Málaga.

Directly call Santa Malaga an amateur team.

As the manager of a team that finished fourth in La Liga and had won against Real Madrid, he could certainly do so and no one thought there was anything wrong with him saying those things.

The first leg of the fifth round of the Copa del Rey is scheduled for January 4.

At noon on January 3, Levante, who had finished his winter break, flew to Malaga.

Speaking at the airport, Levante head coach Ignacio Martinez said: "Malaga is a very beautiful city, the air and the sun are fascinating. ”

Speaking about tomorrow's game, he said: "We haven't played against Santa Málaga and we're not familiar with them.

But I've heard a lot of the players in this squad who have trained in the Malaga Academy, so I'm familiar with them from that point on. ”

The face of the local reporter is difficult to look at, in the eighth round of La Liga this season, Malaga challenged Levante away, and the result was a 0-3 defeat at the Valencia Municipal Stadium.

Ignacio Martínez deliberately referred to Málaga to reflect the match.

His meaning is obvious, your regular army Malaga has been defeated 0-3, and now this "ragtag army" wants to kill us?

Are you kidding!

We're here for a vacation, don't you hear that the first thing I say is "the air and the sun here are fascinating"?

A journalist from Valencia decided that there was nothing to talk about in this game and that it would be better to take the opportunity to talk about La Liga, so he asked: "How is the team doing during the winter break, what are your thoughts on the first opponent after the winter break?" ”

Ignacio Martínez glanced at the reporter who asked the question with appreciative eyes and said with a smile: "We took advantage of the winter break to summarize the gains and losses since the start of the season, and carried out targeted training, and now the situation of the whole team is very good, we are full of confidence in the second half of the season."

Our first opponent was Mallorca.

Their recent form is recovering but their away form this season has been mediocre and we are confident we can win them at home! ”

Another reporter asked: "What do you think you achieved before Levante's winter break is astounding, where do you think you succeeded?" ”

Ignacio Martínez was pleased with the reporter's question, and said with a smile: "Our success is that we have prepared well before the season.

In addition, in terms of hiring, I have made some changes, and I no longer fix who is the main force and who is the substitute.

Those who are in good shape are the main force, and those who are not in good shape can only sit on the bench.

Doing so increases the competition within the team and allows the players to adjust themselves to their best, so we've had some successes.

Now that we're in fourth place, I think we can get even higher!

Some people may think I'm joking, but I'm not kidding, we were at the top of the list at one point! ”

It was clearly the best moment of Ignacio Martinez's coaching career, so he didn't want to keep a low profile.

He is now full of self-confidence and in his opinion, as long as Levante moves to a higher position this season, he could qualify for the Champions League next season.

If he performs well in the Champions League next season, he can use Levante as a springboard to coach a more powerful team.

Coming to Malaga today to play the Copa del Rey against a D team is sure to be a great trip.

So he was in a good mood, so naturally he had to be a little more high-profile in front of these reporters.

The manager of a strong team should be high-profile.

Strength does not allow me to keep a low profile.

Next, Ignacio Martínez happily answered the questions of the "sensible" reporters before leaving the airport and rushing to the hotel.

After a short break in the hotel, Ignacio Martínez led the team to the rose garden for a training session to adapt to the venue.

Why so positive?

Speaking to reporters after training, he said: "We got used to the pitch so quickly, on the one hand, because we value the game, and on the other hand, because it's our style, and we will actively adapt to the pitch before the game.

The point that is said later is the root cause! ”