Sergi Miras: “I like playing at Riazor, I spent many battles there”

Tonight, Riazor will live the duel of European aspirations. Liceo and Calafell (20:30, TVG 2) will face each other in a confrontation of needs. Both teams need to add three points to keep their Champions League aspirations alive and book a place in the last eight three days before the end of the group stage. An old friend of the Verdiblanco team plays in the ranks of the Catalan team. Sergi Miras (Barcelona,​​​​​​1986) is returning to his home of four seasons today.

How is the team coming?

— We have already gone through the slump after the defeat in the quarter-finals of the King’s Cup. The team trained well this week. We are really looking forward to going to Riazor. I think we can do something important there and get important points for the qualifications. We also know that we are going down a very complicated path. Liceo is very busy and developing good hockey.

— It is a vital match for the aspirations of both in the Champions League.

— We know that this competition is of the highest level in Europe and that it will not be easy. We were not lucky with the group either, I think it is the most difficult by far. We’ve been here for three rounds and we’ve done well in all of them, even against Benfica. It will be difficult, but Licej will think the same as we do. If they win three points, they will take a step towards entering the last eight, and if we lose, we are relegated. If the opposite happens, we would enter the fight, and they would complicate their lives, especially since they still have to visit Benfica.

— Does your work experience give you a different approach to these games?

-That. It forces you to accept them in such a way that the motivation is maximum. I have the same joy as when I was 25. These are the games I love to play and train for every day. They motivate me, I go to the end and I think I am getting better and I try to have good matches, although it is always difficult because they are very strong opponents. We are ready for it and hope we can be in until the last minute. We already showed it on our field in the first game that, although we lost 3-4, it was very even.

— They also won in the OK league at Riazor.

— We know what Liceo is and it is a very difficult course. It is true that we won three points in the championship, but they got them in the Champions League. It will be very even. We are very careful, we will have to be very concentrated, and everything is happening to make a great defense.

— What does returning to Riazor mean to you?

“They asked me a lot. It’s like returning to my home outside of Catalonia. I spent four very good years there and have many friends. When you arrive in A Coruña, it’s like being in the fresh air, I feel good there. I love playing on Riazor, I spent many battles there. Now I will do my best to try to help Calafella, but for me it is always special.

— The high school is going through a season of thorough renovation. What do you think is your greatest danger?

— Now they are no longer the team from the beginning of the season. They have a better team, they play well, the team knows more. They needed time and we all knew that Juan Copa would achieve it, and they showed it in the Copa del Rey. I expect a very physically strong Lice, with a very structured defense and great intensity. Then in the attack we will have to be careful with players from the middle distance like Álex Rodríguez or César Carballeira, with the entry of Manrubia or Arnau Canal, who is in a good moment. We will have to be very careful because they have many options to finish the attacks in different ways.