Rafa Benítez Highlights before Manchester City

Here are some comments about the Manchester City game made by Rafa in the press conference today

28/01/2019Various Media

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"The midfielders are very well close but are not ready for this game (No Diame, Shelvey or Ki) . Darlow is getting better, he will be fine later this week. Joselu has twisted his ankle & is not available. No Dummett either."

"I’m a little bit surprised that the analysis is so simple sometimes and it’s only about goals. We’ve been close in most games against the top teams. It’s a question of balance - which means attack and defend well. We have to be more clinical, yes, but we have done well".

"It is never the right moment to play against Man City because they are so good. We knew if we were out of the bottom 3 by the end of January it would be good, so we will see if we can do that tomorrow evening."

"We were disappointed with the result in the Cup but we have to concentrate on a very, very difficult game against Man City. We have been trying to recover players and get ready for this challenge."

"Each manager is managing the team he has, depending on the characteristics of his players. If you have top players you attack. But we need balance. One point could make all the difference, and goal difference is important for us as you have seen."

"The FA Cup 5th-round weekend could be positive for us because we can rest and prepare, but I am not happy that we are out. I am very disappointed. We could have won because Watford did not play well. We needed to be a bit better."

"Man City have 4 or 5 of the quickest players in the PL. They have a top manager and top players. We have to do really well and, if we do really well, we have a chance but this is a very difficult game."

"It’s clear with the money that everyone is spending in the PL, some teams will be really strong. The top 6 will be the top 6 because they are stronger than the others and they have more money to spend. But we can compete against them if we do everything right."

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"I don't know (how hard it will be to sign players) because I don't do the deals."

"I said before, in January if we were out of the bottom three it will be good because we knew we have to play against Chelsea (2-1 defeat), Manchester City and Tottenham.

"The way we play against these [top six] teams is that we score goals against all of them. While other teams that play very expansive football didn't score against all of them.

"It's a question of balance, and people need to understand that balance means attack and defence and I think that we are well organised.

"Normally, we are fine in defence and we create some chances that we don't take sometimes. We have to keep this balance, create more chances and be more clinical like my players say and they know."