Aihen: “I’ve learned to appreciate the club I’m at”

Aihen Muñoz (Donostia, 1997) is one of the football players who had to make his fortune with a lot of sweat, in every training session and in every minute given to him. Imanol in the official match. In the summer of 2021, they opened the doors of the club in 2023 in Gorosabel and Alone, but he decided to stay to fight for opportunities unseen at the time and in the end he had. Now he plays everything in Real’s left lane.

“You learn from everybody,” he says, of his time when he was told he had to find chickpeas outside. “I learned to respect myself more and appreciate the club I live in,” he said. What happened was an incentive: “It helped me take advantage of all the minutes I had that year; that happened 2-3 years ago and now I’m very happy to be here, I’m renewing and competing I’m fine,” he said.

He played almost everything

The best example of the coaches’ confidence in him is that he took part in 17 games played between the League and the Champions League and that he only missed the Cup match and so he could rest. “I always try to be available and ready physically and mentally when opportunities arise,” he said. He celebrates that this season “I play almost every game” and highlights that nobody gives him anything: “What gives me competition is my daily work.”

He plays everything, he is the fifth outfield player with the most minutes this season and has just renewed until 2027 with Real: “I am in a very good moment, regardless of the renewal. Before I was already enjoying it a lot, but the Ang renewal gives you a point of stillness.” However, he assures that he wants to “always be at his best, no matter how many years of contract he has.”

Trust and debate

As is normal given his current status, he assured that he is “very comfortable”, because he has Imanol’s trust, although “I am a player who tries to build his confidence, which does not come from outside , although I notice the confidence of the coach. and the staff.” He doesn’t know if there is a debate or not around his figure: “I do my job and there are people who like it and people who don’t. I do my job and there are people who write and give their opinion, but I feel I’m lucky.”

Your challenge for this course

For now, Aihen He has yet to score any goals this season, but he has provided two assists. His records are better than in previous years: “My goal this year is to put more numbers in defense and attack and I’m achieving it,” he declared. However, he insists that “I can give more and that’s why I’m not resting.” He also celebrates enduring battles “very well” to the end, as demonstrated in the last batch of battles.

Tierney’s competition

It is evident that the fact that he had so many participations was made easier by the injury of Tierney, who, in his opinion, “is a very good player, who will be ready soon.” That is why he referred to his competition for the left-back position as “difficult competition”, although he was calm: “There are games for both of us; the team will benefit from his recovery.”

A “very hard” calendar

Aihen is aware that the schedule they face is “very difficult”, with those eight games “in a few weeks”, from now until Santo Tomás. “Let’s hope to move forward together. Game by game. The games in the Champions League are very important to finish first and in the League we want more points,” he says.

Aihen He had a chance to rest this weekend: “It was good for me,” he said. But he knows that the internationals “more games and not resting” and there are injuries like Gavi. “For those who go to the national team it is a source of pride, but they don’t rest. There are many games, sometimes too many, but that’s competition,” he comments.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s match at Anoeta, Etxauri’s full-back is suspicious of the weak position of Sevilla, who, in his opinion, is “a good team, like us.”