The key in Valladolid is that we play as a team and our duty is to perform to the best of our ability”, added Solari.


Santiago Solari took to the media room at Real Madrid City on the eve of his side’s trip to face Valladolid at the Estadio José Zorrilla (Sunday, 8:45pm CET), with the Whites’ boss previewing the game in the following terms: “We’ll go there with a professional attitude. It’s true that it’s in situations of adversity that you see people’s character. That’s when you see who’s with you and who’s not, who disappears, who stands tall, who’s happy, who’s down and who’s prepared to battle against the situation”.

“It’ll be a very tough one, just like they all are. Valladolid will come out and try to get all they can from the game and we’ll have to do the same as we try to put more points on the board. The key is for us to play as a team”.

Have all the players been up to representing the badge?
“Most of them have and as for those who haven’t, I’ve told them as much myself”.

Would a possible dismissal be unfair?
“That’s not something for me to assess. Our duty tomorrow is to go out and for each of us to do the best we can. It’s not our finest hour after the game the other day, but we’ve got a professional duty to fulfil. We’ve got 12 games to go and have to finish as high up as we can. What’s more, mathematically, we’re still in with a chance. That said, there’s a big gap there. But our first job is to perform tomorrow”.

Ramos to travel to Valladolid
“He doesn’t have to ask me, we’ve spoken about it and he’ll travel. At the moment I think that it’s good that he travels to help support the team, his teammates, the club and do his job as captain”.

Meeting with the players?
“Things that go on in private are private matters. It’s all to do with the dressing room. There are things that can be shared in a press conference and we always look at ourselves critically. They’re very harsh on themselves when they look at the performances. It’s not something that only happens when we lose. It’s a process that we see every day, especially after a win. It’s easy to find somebody to blame when things are going badly and the difficult thing is to identify weaknesses in the good times”.