It's playoff time and that means high pressure games. One man who knows this all to well is Balonga13. The Las Palmas manager is about to lead his side into a winner take all clash against Panathinaikos. Win and the Spanish outfit will be playing Club League 1 Football next season. Lose and it's another season out of the top flight. AG news caught up with Balonga earlier in the week and asked him a few questions:
How big is this match? "It's a massive match. To be honest it's been a disappointing season but all that will be forgotten if we do the job this weekend. We're under no illusions about the size of the task. We're facing a team that were leading the table all the way until the last furlong. We know their quality and we know that we will need to be on the top of our game if we are to match them."
Will Panathinaikos's failure to land automatic promotion be too much for them to handle? "I've played against DaddyNJacob's teams before and I know they'll be ready physically. Mentally they may be weary but I'm expecting a very tight encounter."
Did you expect to be in this position come the beginning of the season? The aim was to always try and win the league but in caws 09, paullowes80 and DaddyNJacob that's some tough competition. Hats off to paullowes80's Monaco side who perhaps took me by surprise in regards to how consistent they were and the same can be said for DaddyNJacob's outfit. I expected caws 09 to be right up there as I know about his quality and his desire to get back where he belongs and that's in Club League 1. Now it's either my side or DaddyNJacob's. I hope it's us."
What's going to be the key to winning this game? "Scoring the first goal will be key. In both league games against them we fell behind and although we managed to secure draws on both occasions it really made things difficult for us. Ibarbo is a menace upfront and we will need to keep him quiet."
Who can be the difference for your side? "In Kevin Prince Boateng, Sergio Araujo and Marko Livaja we have serious goal threats. They'll be worried about what we bring to the table I have no doubt about that."
What will promotion mean to you? "It would mean a lot. With all due respect to Club League 2 it's not where I or the club want to be. We want to mix it with the very best in the AG universe. We must seize this opportunity for everyone connected with Las Palmas."