“It will be a popular football game against an ocean liner.”

YesOn the lawn of the Reina Sofia municipal court, Dani Ponz (Valencia, 1973) is in her element. His words radiate football from all sides, although from the moment he arrived he was imbued with a unique Unionist feeling. He knows that beating Barca will be the icing on the cake and that the main goal is in his league, but he will not give up anything against Xavi’s team.

Ask. How to change the First Federation chip to prepare for the match with Barça?

Reply. For those of us who come from the humblest of football backgrounds, if one day they tell us that we will have to analyze Barça to compete with them… that’s incredible. When we first started, it was everyone’s dream to one day be able to participate in these types of games. But experience makes us treat this relatively, the way of working will remain the same, we believe in what we do.

Question: The fact that Barça arrived injured… is it good or bad for the unionists?

R. We have the experience of Villarreal, who came into the starting lineup after the defeat to Valencia. Their emotional level may change after the defeat to Madrid and all the alarms going off. But on the day of the Villarreal match we also saw that on an emotional level the starting team, as soon as we gave them the first scare, began to deteriorate and it turned against them.

I saw a lot of kids cry on the day of the Villarreal match and it was incredible. That’s the goal – to excite people.

Dani Ponz, Unionistas coach.

Question: There are rumors about Xavi’s dismissal if he loses in Salamanca…

R. I don’t think this will happen. Xavi’s personality is more than that, and when Barça hire him it is not because of his personality, but because of the project. I really like him as a coach.

Question: How are the unionists going to play against Barça?

R. We are a team that creates uncertainty. We don’t like to talk about a fixed plan. We are not going to give up anything, what we have always been, an attacking team that looks at the opposition goal and is capable of causing damage from set pieces, passing and with the ball. We are not going to betray each other.

Question: This Cup is a gift that the club has earned through its own merits.

R. Obviously for everyone. For the sake of the project, for the sake of the fan who accompanied us and created a magical atmosphere, as it happened twice in the match against Villarreal, for the super professional players and together with the club employees, we came here. Now we have much more to gain than to lose.

Question: How did you see the unionists before joining the club from the outside?

R. This is popular football against the world liner. This is a team that is endearing to the way it is and the way it is run. Members play an important role in the club’s decisions and we have a code of ethics and a way of doing things. Our fans then join the opposing fans in a third period of sorts. People have a good time here. They caught my attention with the heart they put into them, the way they do things, it was a bit in line with how I see football and I got on with them.

Question. What memories do you have of the missing UDS?

R. We all know the history of the Union, those goals in Helmantico that were sung on the radio. There were good years. “This club was created to pay tribute to the Union and what better time than now to remember our origins.”

This club was born to pay tribute to the Union, and what better time than now to remember our origins.

Dani Ponz, Unionistas coach.

Question: What do you think about Unionistas fans?

R. We already have guaranteed success. Our goal was to make this seed grow in the hearts of many people from Salamanca, not from Salamanca, and this trust in us is reflected in the track record of the members. I saw a lot of kids cry on the day of the Villarreal match and it was incredible. That’s the goal – to move people.

Question: Promise if they win?

R. I am not at all superstitious or hopeful. I don’t have anything planned. Just, no matter what happens, don’t betray us. There’s a lot of work behind it, we know who we are and that’s what brought us here. “This is our identity, and we do not betray ourselves.”