AD Ceuta coach José Juan Romero expressed his admiration for Málaga CF following the Andalusian team's resounding 1-4 victory at the Alfonso Murube stadium. Romero believes the team has the necessary quality to aim for direct promotion, or at least a playoff spot.
Romero described Málaga as an "extraordinary team" that is "at a moment to make history and take a city where it deserves to be." He lamented his own team's lack of effectiveness, noting that "they did whatever they wanted for 45 minutes" and that his team "did not show up" in the first half.
“"If it's not direct promotion, which I hope Málaga achieves, then at least the playoffs. But they have the arguments to compete with anyone and to aim for direct promotion, if it happens."
The coach from Seville also compared Málaga to other teams that have visited his stadium, such as Racing and Castellón, although he clarified that the benchmark cannot be the same due to the differences in his team's performance throughout the season. "I see Racing as a superior team to all others," he stated.
Regarding his own team's performance, AD Ceuta, Romero acknowledged that improvement in the second half was "difficult to worsen" and took responsibility: "The mistake is mine; I was not able to convey that today was an important match and that we were playing against an extraordinary team." He described his team's first-half performance as "making a fool of ourselves."
“"Today we saw an extraordinary team, which right now is in a moment to make history and take a city where it deserves to be, and a team that had nothing to play for."
Despite the defeat, Romero highlighted that AD Ceuta has been an "absolute survivor in the category" and that to compete in La Liga Hypermotion, one needs to give "200%," something his team failed to do against Málaga.
