SAMPAOLI: "I VALUE THE EFFORT OF THE LADS TO WIN"

Jorge Sampaoli showed his satisfaction with the performance of his players as they defeated Mallorca: "We were far superior in the first half. We came into the game off the back of a tough week but the team recovered and put on one of the best displays this season against a tough rival who had beaten Real Madrid. We could have scored another in the first half and I value the effort of the lads to win amongst adversity".

He highlighted the technical level of Pape Gueye on his home debut: "We had already seen it in Marseille. He is an unselfish player, who always plays with a great intensity. He is going to help us a lot and we hope he plays like this in the games we have coming up. The courage he showed today is why I rate him so highly."

Turning his attention to the Europa League, Sampaoli said: "We will have to see how the players feel after this game, because we have an important game game next weekend and we have to play the best team, whoever it is that is available. We have to players sanctioned for Sunday and we have to see how the rest of the team is, and see if we can get one more player back ahead of the next league game."