Levante haven’t finished off enough games: Morales

By Debayan Mukherjee

Kolkata, May 8 (IANS) Levante captain Jose Luis Morales feels the team hasn't converted their chances this season and failed to finish off games despite playing well in La Liga.

With two games remaining in this season, Levante find themselves at the 16th position in the 20-team points table, just beating the drop. Three teams from the bottom are relegated at the end of every season.

"We aren't converting our chances and we aren't killing off games. There have been games in which we have been superior to our opponents and we have not taken advantage of it," winger Morales told IANS in an interview.

"In the end the mistakes we make are hindering us, and the failure to kill those games off means that the smallest detail leads to us conceding a goal and dropping points.

"We haven't been experiencing long-lasting joy as of late as just as soon as we score, we concede. We have to try to avoid this because we are already into the final matches of the season. Every point and every detail is important for us in order to achieve survival," he said.

Levante, in their last outing, relegated fellow stragglers Rayo Vallecano with a commanding 4-1 victory, snapping a fruitless run in which they managed just one win from 11 games.

"We are still out of the relegation zone, which is something that should also give us a little bit of tranquility. We aren't in the bottom three. The team are having good games, we are feeling comfortable when we have the ball, but the few mistakes we make are being punished," Morales said.

Morales has been the biggest contributor to his team's goals, even though striker Roger Marti has scored the most with 12.

While assessing his personal form this season, the 31-year-old said, "I think it's a good time for me. You try to improve, year after year, and I think that's what I have been doing."

"We all try to help the team, either with goals or with assists. I think that contributing everything you have to the team means helping in all respects, and I think that, if we are all at one hundred percent, other teams will find it hard to take points off me," he added.

Morales urged his teammates to push a little bit extra in the last two games of the season.

"We have to give a little more in this final phase, and I think that is where the fans come in."

Levante, on 40 points from 36 matches, take on Girona (May 12) and Atletico Madrid (May 18) next.

(Debayan Mukherjee can be contacted at debayan.m@ians.in)

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