Real Valladolid head to the Basque Country this weekend for Matchday 29 of the LaLiga season, which will see Álvaro Rubio’s side come up against Real Sociedad at 13:00 GMT [14:00 CET] on Saturday, 29 March.
Time is rapidly running out for Pucela to secure their top-flight status, with the gap to 17th-placed Deportivo Alavés currently sitting at 11 points with just ten games remaining in 2024/25.
Rubio hasn’t lost hope in his side yet though, praising “the attitude they have” during his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“It’s fantastic, and so is the work. They are converting competitiveness into results,” he explained, adding that the international break has been a “positive” for the squad.
“It’s helped us to work on more situations because you have two weeks. We have a lot of internationals, but we’ve [prepared] with those who have been here,” the 45-year-old continued.
But the former Real Valladolid midfielder, who made more than 300 appearances for the club during his playing career, did not shy away from the threat posed by Real Sociedad. He hopes that break from club football will “affect” the txuri-urdin, who had a significant number of players called up for international duty.
The Basque side “have a sufficiently large and competitive squad. Honestly, for that reason, I don’t know who is going to play. They rotate and each player you see does better than the previous one.”