© EuroFootball.com
La Coruña coach Javier Irureta warned his players that they will be crushed by Porto in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday if they play like they did in Saturday's match against Valladolid, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
For most of the season, Deportivo, who were in contention for the Spanish champion title, have been playing poorly in the national championship. This was also the case in Saturday's match, where SuperDepor failed to beat bottom-of-the-table Valladolid at home. It seemed like the players were already focused on Wednesday's Champions League match.
"When they scored a goal, we definitely started playing better," Irureta said. "But even though we equalized, we lacked the strength to win. Valladolid deserved the draw."
"I was not satisfied with the performance of some players," the coach continued. "But that's football. The team just didn't concentrate as in other matches. Probably because of the upcoming match against Porto."
"I want to win in Portugal," Irureta said. "I want the team to play like they did against Milan (Deportivo won 4-0 - ed.). But if we play like we did on Saturday, Porto will score many goals against us."
