The Copa del Rey quarterfinal match between Valencia CF and Athletic Club was extraordinary for Marcelino García Toral. The last two teams he had coached faced each other, and two teams with which he also managed to lift a trophy (the Copa del Rey itself with Valencia and the Spanish Super Cup with Athletic). With these premises, no one better than him to speak about the game. He did it on ‘Onda Deportiva Valencia’ in an interview that lasted about 40 minutes.
“For the love I have for both teams, may the best team win. They treated me phenomenally in Valencia and Bilbao,” says the coach. Valencia CF and Athletic Club had met in the last edition of the Copa del Rey, in this case in the semifinals, and with Bordalás and Marcelino on the respective benches. Now, Gattuso and Valverde command the technical area. “Sadly enough, Gattuso has not been able to enjoy a great Valencia as I could”, says the Asturian coach about his successful stage, from which he came out unpleasantly. “I don’t bear any grudges. It happened, I had a bad time for a long time because I saw that it was an absolute injustice, but after time I look at the present and the future,” he clarifies.
In the interview, numerous specific cases were addressed. Those of players like Unai Vencedor, Rodrigo Moreno, Gonçalo Guedes and Dani Parejo, whose careers experienced notable growth under Marcelino’s orders, who now live in Gijón awaiting his next professional challenge.
Entrevista a @Marcelino en @ODValencia
— Onda Cero Valencia (@OCRValencia) January 25, 2023
🗣️ “Lo triste es que Gattuso no haya podido disfrutar de un gran Valencia como lo pude disfrutar yo”https://t.co/19baeeEp4W
After Luis Enrique’s departure, many thought of him as the new national team coach, and it did not last long due to the quick appointment of Luis de la Fuente. “When he decided not to continue, there were not many coaches on the market with a CV of a certain level… but it happened so quickly that I didn’t even have time to get too excited,” he assumes.
