Zaragoza vs Espanyol preview - Ponzio tired of excuses

Posted Sunday, September 18, 2011 by PA

Real Zaragoza midfielder Leo Ponzio says his side cannot continue to use a lack of familiarity to excuse poor performances.

Zaragoza have made a poor start to the season after a tumultuous summer which saw the club first go into administration and then 11 new players arrive at La Romereda.

But Ponzio said ahead of Sunday's visit of Espanyol: "Obviously with every passing day we get to know each other better but we can't continue to use the excuse that we don't know each other.

"There are a lot of new players in the team but they have to fit in quickly if we are to move forward in the league. It would be best if this process was done in pre-season but we are doing it in full competition.

"We need to know each other better because the past few weeks are gone and we need to be together. I hope if we do that, everything will come together as soon as possible."

The degree of change at Zaragoza is evidenced by the fact that Javier Aguirre has used 20 players in the two Primera Liga matches to date.

Pablo Barrera is expected to regain his place in the side and the Mexican coach will stick with the new strike partnership of former Espanyol man Luis Garcia and Helder Postiga that started at Rayo Vallecano last weekend.

Espanyol's form away from home has been terrible in recent times, with only one point from their last nine away games in the league, and they will have to do without Juan Albin for two to three months after he was injured in last weekend's 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Albin's replacement Thievy Bifouma was excellent against Athletic and is expected to be given his first start of the season.

Mauricio Pochettino will also be missing Jesus Datolo, Felipe Mattioni and Jordi Amat through injury.