Juan Carlos Carcedo’s UD Ibiza will attempt to avoid the terrible incidents that transpired last Thursday in Can Misses-3 with CD Ibiza and will welcome UD Almeria, the league’s exceptional leader (Can Misses, 16 hours).
Almeria, led by Joan Francesc Ferrer ‘Rubi’, who previously coached SE Ibiza in 2008, arrive on the island with the best record in Spanish football and an outstanding run of results, including five straight victories. UD Ibiza are the second-best team in recent times, having picked up 11 points from their past 15 games (three wins and two draws), and have kept three straight clean sheets to move up to seventh place in the standings.
The Celestes are also LaLiga’s greatest newcomers, and they will try to continue their media presence today against the team most likely to contend for promotion to the Primera Division. Can Misses hosts, therefore, a pulse between the two clubs in better form in what will be the star encounter of the sixteenth day of the Second Division League.
Despite Almeria’s recent success, the Ibizan side is quite familiar with their opponents. Carcedo worked as an assistant to Unai Emery, guiding the team to promotion and a seventh-place finish in the Primera Division, while Celeste sporting director Fernando Soriano was a star player and coach during his time at the Indalo club. Additionally, his shirt was worn by winger Nono, and centre Juan Ibiza joined the Celeste ranks this year from Almeria. Rubi’s return to Can Misses 13 years later, where he left by the back door during a turbulent 2008, is the cherry on top of a match that offers all the incentives for the stadium ibicenca to deliver the season’s best entry.
UD Ibiza understands that in order to compete with the leaders, they must showcase their compact play and set-piece prowess. Last Sunday’s victory at the Reale Arena, courtesy of a late Miki Villar goal, boosted the spirit of a club that already has nearly half of the points required to avoid relegation (22).
They will face the greatest team in Segunda. Almeria have 34 points from 11 victories, one draw, and three defeats, all of which came on the road. For the red and white section, the injured Robertone, Buuel, and Carriço, as well as the suspended Umar Sadiq, one of the category’s finest strikers with seven goals so far, are a concern.
Meanwhile, Carcedo loses two of the pieces he typically uses in the attacking zone: Bogusz, who is now concentrating on the Polish national team, and Guerrero, who was sent off in the last game against Real Sociedad’s subsidiary. On the other side, the coach from La Rioja reintroduces Argentina’s Gonzalo Escobar, who has been absent due to bureaucratic complications in recent weeks, and Kevin Appin, who missed the encounter in Anoeta due to a fever. Carcedo may make a few alterations to his starting eleven in order to strengthen the midfield and counter his rival’s expansive offensive repertoire.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.