Gayà: "We have to play our best football to get into the final"

José Luis Gayà, captain of Valencia CF, gave a press conference before the Supercopa semifinal against Real Madrid.

How do you face this semifinal?

This and LaLiga are different competitions. We face it with the greatest enthusiasm possible. We know it's a trophy and therefore we have to forget about our last two games in LaLiga and focus on how to hurt Real Madrid. We come here with the intention of hurting Real Madrid and reaching the final.

What game are you expecting tomorrow?

I expect a match that, as always against Madrid, is very tough. We have to play our best football if we want to get to the final. We know their quality, with world-class players, and we have to be at our best level to be in the final. The last time we were here, we didn't like the fact that there were a lot of Real Madrid fans, but we accepted it and fought against it.

You are coming off the back of two consecutive defeats. Could tomorrow's game be a turning point?

We are going to try to make that the case. We want tomorrow's game to be a turning point for what remains of the season. We are on a run of two consecutive defeats in LaLiga, which is painful, and we want to change this situation. In tomorrow's game we have to go all-out, with the intention of beating them. We will face the game with the highest possible motivation to play in a final that would be very special for us and would make the fans excited.

How are the team experiencing this moment and what is the coach focused on to make you a better team?

When you come off two defeats it is not an easy situation, but in these moments when things don’t work out, you have to be more united than ever, review what you are not doing well and try to improve it. I think we should have more points and we should improve, but this is another competition and we really want to go through.

What do you remember of the last Supercopa game against Madrid?

I remember they steamrolled us. They was far superior to us. We were not up to a Supercopa semifinal. The atmosphere was not the best. We are going to fight, we are going to give everything and it will not be like the last time. We are very excited to get to a final again and we are going to play a very difficult game against Real Madrid to get through.

What will change for tomorrow's game?

I can tell you little about that. We have talked and analysed many things, especially what we haven’t done well, in order to improve. In the last two games we were maybe not like this, but before we had been an aggressive team, it was very difficult to beat us. We have to return to that.

What kind of enthusiasm is there about the Spanish Supercopa?

My dream is to win tomorrow, get into another final and try to win it. That excites me, the whole team and the fans. We come here with great desire and hopefully we can win this trophy.

The team have returned with two consecutive defeats in the league. Against Cádiz the performance was poor. What do the team lack?

The game against Cádiz was not good. They took the lead, which was just what we didn't want because they defend very well. That is something in which we have to improve, but not only in that. In many games we have taken the lead, we have not been able to kill off the game in the first half and then we’ve struggled. We need to have a complete match, in which we feel comfortable both with and without the ball. We are going to try to get that feeling back and tomorrow we have a great opportunity.

How did you experience your departure from the national team before the World Cup? Do you hold a grudge against Luis Enrique?

That is all forgotten. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I felt very bad for my teammates that they couldn't go further in the World Cup.

There are only three players left from the squad from the last Supercopa semifinal, which was three years ago can you win?

It's hard. We all wish there was a consistent. Only maintaining three players is not a good thing. But you’re telling me something that I can't control. I’m focused on tomorrow's game and I had not been thinking about that.