First team

SAMPAOLI: “EVERYTHING COUNTS IN PLANNING FOR TWO VERY DIFFERENT PROPOSITIONS”

10/03/2017

A key week lies ahead for Sevilla FC, and the boss reminded the press that before the game against Leicester, "we have to think about Leganés"

It's time to roll our sleeves up ahead of a tough week which starts this Saturday with the visit of CD Leganés, a match that the Sevilla FC boss, Jorge Sampaoli, doesn't want to lose sight of, even with the second leg of the Champions League last 16 in Leicester days away, and a visit to the Calderón next Saturday. And the chances of keeping up the chase of the teams at the top depends on getting the three points, which is why planning in the coming days will be the key: "We'll go out there with everything to turn the match in our favour. We're coming off the back of a lot of games and now the priority is tomorrow's. After this one, another challenge begins which is another tournament. What's clear is that the recovery times are very short, our opponent will be coming off a ten-day break... And everything counts in planning for two very different propositions".

"If those who play go out looking for the chance to fight with the teams at the top, we'll have an exciting afternoon"

Even so, Sampaoli was insistent that "if we think about Tuesday, Leganés will make us have a bad afternoon. On the other hand, if those who play look to fight with the teams at the top, we'll have a hugely exciting afternoon. If we think about Tuesday, we'll be forgetting about something very important and we'll bring an unnecessary pressure on ourselves before it's time. We visit Leicester on Tuesday, but before that we have to think about Leganés".

"If we don't achieve both the objectives that we have today, we'll have to reflect on why"

On the need to take all three points to stay in the fight at the top: "We have a duty to aim for both objectives, regardless of the difficulty that brings with it. It's easy to sit here and say that we're going to try to win the league or to go through to the quarter finals, but we have to aim for both targets with whichever team plays. If we don't achieve both those things that we have as our objectives today, we'll have to reflect on why".

Despite admitting that "we have to work very hard in every match", the boss hasn't lost hope and hopes that the team can recover their style and possession-based fluency ahead of the final phase of the season: "It's been very difficult to get where we are and we've relaxed to a certain extent. But here it's not the team that runs the most that wins, but the team that plays the best. We've built a Sevilla FC that's competetive in how it plays and hopefully we'll have the level of performance that the team had so that we get the chance that we're talking about today".

"I don't agree that running is more valuable than playing"

He continued: "Football is everything and if that's missing, the physical demands are greater. In recent matches the team has run more, which has something to do with the fact that they've played worse. When they find their level of performance they won't have to draw on fitness because they'll do everything with the ball. I don't agree that running is more valuable than playing".

"Faced with the change at Leicester, we saw we had no option but to modify our plans"

Returning to the team's planning, the boss did admit that the new look Leicester City which has got back to winning ways following the managerial change and enjoyed a trip to Dubai "has changed our plans. The change in mindset has meant the team has got back to being as dangerous as it was last year. As a result we saw we had no option but to modify our plans. The Leicester players will play this match as if it were a world cup final and we know that not having come away with the lead we deserved means that the score is very close and, if we don't go after the match, everything will be an uphill task".