Aihen Munoz can boast that Real Sociedad has qualified for Europe in the four seasons he has been in the first team, in which he continues despite the fact that every summer there is talk of signing a player in his position to improve it. The defender tells MARCA how he carries it and his aspirations for 2023-24, which to this day is the last season that he has signed with the txuriurdin club.
Ask. LaLiga is here and the last pre-season games say that Real has arrived prepared. OK?
Answer. The good starts and we are already looking forward to competing. As you say, I believe that we are prepared, that in the preparation matches we have been good and the results have been good. We still haven’t had the best conditions to train, but I think that each player has given the maximum to get to the start of LaLiga well.
Q. Before we start, it’s usually time to talk about goals. What do you think the team marks?
R. Well, right now I would tell you to win every game and, since we started playing at home the first two days, have six points after playing them. On a more global level, I would summarize the objectives to continue in LaLiga at the level we have been in recent years and to compete in the Champions League.
Q. Do you notice that the demand regarding the team has increased?
R. We are the ones who have set the bar so high and that means having demands and pressure to hold the level, we think that we still have room for improvement, but being aware of the difficulty that this has.
As Olabe said, we are not going to go to the Champions League to take photos. We want to add as many points as possible
Q. It is often said that the most important thing is LaLiga, but the Champions League is there and, being the best club competition in the world, it may receive more attention… Oh, and many want to repeat the 2020 Cup… .
R. With Imanol everything has always been important, a competition has never been thrown. It is true that we are all very excited about the Champions League, listening to the anthem in Anoeta, enjoying it and competing to the fullest, we are not going to take pictures of ourselves, as Olabe once said, but it is also true that LaLiga is the competition for all the season and what feeds you.
Q. But maybe someone, for example, would like to see Guardiola, Haaland, De Bruyne and company at Anoeta…
A. We want to score as many points as possible and go as far as possible, no matter who our opponent is.
Q. Among those who are going to try to go as far as possible are no longer Illarramendi, David Silva and Guevara, very important players in the locker room, the last one especially for you.
R. Asier made that decision not to continue and what we are grateful to him for is his career here and all that he has contributed to young people. Ander, as you say, has contributed a lot to us, especially to me, but everything he does is very safe and all that remains is to wish him good luck. And David was one of the best players in the world, as well as a great person, and it’s a shame that he gave himself what he gave himself.
Every year there is talk about wanting a left back, I’m used to it. I try to show that I am capable of playing here
Q. You do continue, despite the fact that another summer there is talk of signing a left back to improve the position. More tired or more used to it?
R. Every year they are like this, I’m used to it. As always, what I try to show on the field is that I am capable of being at Real, especially the coach and, as long as that is the case, I will be very happy. I know that, sometimes, I am always among those indicated, but I work to improve, to continue being brave on the pitch, to contribute as much as possible to the group.
Q. It doesn’t help your situation that you only have a contract until 2024, while other colleagues sign until 2027 or 2028…
A. That is not a question for me. I have already said that I want to be here and what I do is work to earn it, to continue enjoying defending this shield. At the moment there is nothing with the club, but I insist that I focus on my day to day, not on that, because that often generates anxiety. If I play and contribute to the team, and if the team continues at the level it is at, everything else will come.
I am very happy to be part of this incredible period for Real, with four years in a row in Europe. I wish there was a fifth
Q. Where he has arrived is Europe during the four seasons he has been in the Real’s first team.
R. Yes, the truth is that I have had to be part of an incredible time for Real and I am very happy. They have been a few years with players of a very high level around and we are achieving very nice things. Hopefully we continue like this and there is a fifth year in Europe. But I have lived through the Real that suffered in the Second Division, which had a hard time staying in the First Division, and I am super clear that these last few years have not been normal and they must be valued and enjoyed to the fullest.
Q. But now it can be said that this Royal is making the abnormal normal…
A. Yes, the team has been incredible, competing at a very high level in the League, winning the Cup and entering Europe every year, but that does not have to prevent us from having our feet on the ground and knowing where this club comes from.
