Marcelino: “It's one of the happiest moments of my coaching career“

An unforgettable moment

It's one of the happiest moments of my coaching career. This was one I really wanted. This was my fifth semifinal in charge of a team, and fortunately we got through to the final. I want to thank these extraordinary players, because during all the difficult moments we've had this season, they have never stopped respecting and believing in their coaching staff and their coach. I also want to thank Mateu Alemany and my family -above all my father, who isn't here today. He would have been the happiest man in the world."

The fans

When you are so close to a final, I think it becomes very important for everyone. The fans wanted it. The fans deserved it. The fans helped us to achieve it. They were a big help today.

I've been lucky enough to enjoy this great night here at this stadium. But there's a long time to go before the final and we want to be ambitious, be excited and also beat Athletic Club this weekend. We want to go as far as possible in the Europa League.

The game

We suffered in the first game on set pieces, and that's where they scored the two goals from corners. We would have liked to have had more control. Having the first leg result in our favour meant that we looked to protect it more than going for a goal. In the second half we changed a few things, we were able to score a good goal and everything became less difficult. Today we're enjoying the Copa del Rey, but in 72 hours we have another game, and the Europa League is coming up next week.

Being demanding ahead of Sunday

I'm happy tonight, but if we don't win on Sunday then I'll be annoyed. I said before this game that it was just another match. We want to win every game. We want to beat Athletic and we want to win next Thursday in the Europa League. It's a great satisfaction to reach my first final as a coach, but this isn't over.