Cervi, multipurpose on the left

Franco Cervi arrived at Celta in the summer of 2021 as a star from the renowned Benfica, but two years later he was adapting to become a luxury club on the left. First helping in defensive tasks from an inside position, and now, if necessary, a winger. Tomorrow against Valencia, he points towards that position, which is less and less strange for him.

“As a player, you have to be ready to act where you have to and try to do your best. I am willing to play on the wing or whatever the coach asks me to do. I am calm and I work for the game,” said the Argentine.

The task of leaving the side is not entirely new. In his last year in the Eagles team, he was assigned a position that in theory was not his: “I did it last year in Benfica, I know the position, I also trained there in Benfica and if it’s my turn, I’ll try to do my best.”

To date, he has played in that position twice in Celta. The first, with a defense of five in Mallorca, and the second, in the second half in Getafe, with a 4-4-2 tactical system.

This shift towards defensive work may have taken its toll on him in attack. Last year, the man from Rosario finished with three goals on his account, but this year, with five games to go, he remained empty. A detail that does not go unnoticed and annoys the player: «It is something that I personally do not like. It’s a big pending account I have, I’m trying to improve it every day and I hope it happens as soon as possible. I’m used to scoring and it’s hard for that to happen to me, but I feel it can come anytime.”

In his favor, to rediscover himself with a goal, is that he is experiencing an excellent moment of form. Cervi is undoubtedly one of the most prepared players in Carvalhal’s group. To a large extent, because he always came off the bench, he required hard work and intensity. “You always want to be there, but it happens during the season and you always have to work, whether you start or not. When he comes, he has to try to help the team, that’s all I can think about.

That spirit opens the door to a third consecutive title for the first time in any other round of the year where, generally speaking, he is in very similar numbers to the previous one, with one caveat: in 21/22 he started as a substitute and finished as a starter and in the current one it was vice versa.

Together, Franco Cervi admits they have to reverse the trend. “Things didn’t happen because of some situations that we already talked about with the team and the coaching staff to try to fix them and finish the season in the best way. We have done very good things and we will be that team again”, he states, admitting that the visit to Valencia is not just another game: “It is of great importance”, because it can seal the durability or complicate the celestial future.

And in order to beat him, he knows that the beginnings of the last two games cannot be repeated, conceding goals on the first substitution: “The fact that we scored a goal at the beginning of the game makes it a little difficult, but we are focused from the first minute so that what happened does not happen to us in the past matches, that we can play brilliantly for 90 minutes and take three points”. This would be to achieve the main goal with four dates in advance.