Real Sociedad vs Almeria preview - Bergara focussed on Almeria

Posted Saturday, October 26, 2013 by PA

Real Sociedad midfielder Markel Bergara has urged his team to forget their midweek Champions League loss at Manchester United and focus on making it back-to-back wins in the Primera Division when they host Almeria on Sunday.

Jagoba Arrasate's side went down 1-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday, but posted an impressive 2-1 triumph at the Mestalla last weekend - their first win in La Liga since the opening day - in ending Valencia's five-game unbeaten run.

And Bergara believes the coming week will now prove crucial in determining the trajectory of 12th-placed Sociedad's season.

"In the three games that lie ahead, the goal is to win, and we will go for it," he said at a press conference, looking beyond Sunday's game and to Wednesday's trip to Real Valladolid and next Saturday's home game against Osasuna.

"Based on this week, we will be either looking up or treading water. This week we are going to stop, to forget Manchester and if we win against Almeria we will see everything with more optimism."

He added: "It might not be the biggest game to the media, but it may be the most important for us because getting two straight wins, moving onto 13 points... If we can get this from the game against Almeria, we would start to look up."

Almeria head into the weekend winless and rock-bottom of the standings, having picked up only three points from nine games so far.

President Alfonso Garcia Gabarron has given his public backing to under-pressure coach Francisco Javier Rodriguez, but admitted the pair had showdown talks earlier this week following last Sunday's 1-0 reverse at home to 10-man Rayo.

"I asked him if he felt strong enough to continue," Gabarron said. "He told me he did and I said that if that was how he felt then he should continue because the team have done more good things than bad.

"It would have been unfair to sack him, because the team have deserved to pick up many more points.

"If after nine games we had played nine awful matches, then of course a change would have been necessary, but we have had good games and had real possibilities of winning five or six games."