First team

SAMPAOLI: “WITH THE SEOND HALF REBELLION WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE A COME BACK”

25/02/2017

“We rarely do this, but fortunately we were able to get back into the game,” he said.

The Sevilla manager, Jorge Sampaoli, was a happy man after the victory against Real Betis and above all, as the Argentine explained, after the poor performance that the side produced in the first half: “Judging by the first half, it should’ve been impossible to get back into the game. For that reason we made a couple of changes at half time, we wanted to chase the game and we equalised. From there we were happy to score the winner.”

Sampaoli highlighted the opposition’s strengths from the first half and the reaction of his squad: “Betis were been one of the most dangerous teams that we have played against, but we had to keep believing that what we were doing in the second half would be enough to find the win.”

“We made a couple of changes at half time and we chased the game”

“We’re really happy,” Sampaoli continued. “To share this with the players and the club gives me great satisfaction. The 22 players took part in a very intense game with many individual battles and, in truth, our set pieces made the difference against a side whose second half performance was in stark contrast to the first.”

Sampaoli also spoke of the players’ reaction to the shake-up at half time: “The double change came because in the first half we didn’t have any chances and with the second half we got back into the game so that what could happen happened.

The manager was effusive in his praise for Vicente Iborra, the undoubted man of the match: “Vicente Iborra made his mark on the game and was central to changing the way the team played. He was pivotal to our comeback.”