Quique Sánchez Flores said on Saturday, May 16, that Deportivo Alavés would arrive well for Sunday’s match against Oviedo, despite playing their third game of the week. He said the side would compete with the aim of producing a good performance because, as he put it, the prize could be extraordinary.
Sánchez Flores said the fatigue was still important and plainly visible, but he still expected Alavés to respond in a match that could be shaped as much by concentration as by legs. For him, the task was simple: be solid and accurate in both penalty areas and play a very serious match.
The backdrop is a LaLiga meeting that arrives with different pressures on each side. Sánchez Flores said Oviedo had competed very well in the second half of the season and would try to show rebellion after losing the category. He also said the home side would face an emotional goodbye to Cazorla, whom he described as a very important player.
That context matters because Alavés are not just dealing with a quick turnaround; they are stepping into a game with emotional noise around the opposition and a short recovery window of their own. Sánchez Flores said the other calculations did not interest him, making clear that his focus was on the field and not on the table or the permutations around it.
The tension in his assessment was blunt. He acknowledged the wear on his squad, then leaned into the possibility that the match could still deliver something far bigger than the accumulated fatigue suggests. Sunday’s test now turns on whether Alavés can make that calculation hold up when the game begins.
