First team

MILANIC: "WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS"

25/09/2017

Valon Ahmedi: "Yes, it will be a challenging match, but we have come to play our own football"

Manager of NK Maribor, Darko Milanic, appeared in the press room of the Sánchez-Pizjuán moments before his team began practising in the stadium ready for Tuesday´s game. Without beating around the bush, the manager acknowledged Sevilla FC as the favourite to win but said that this would not stop his team from giving it their all this Tuesday.

"They are the favourites, and it's not up for debate. But each one of us knows that we are able to give our maximum effort. The aim is to finish the match with our heads held high, as we did in the first match. We have an opportunity to achieve great things and we want to take advantage of that... We are not in the elite of world football, but we have experience. All of us will sleep very well tonight and we will be well prepared for when we face Sevilla. We want to be a leading team. Preparing for this type of match is straightforward".

Furthermore, he stated “I am happy with how the previous matches have been played. We both attack and defend very well. We know to behave when the opponent has more possession of the ball. Tomorrow we have to be more united as a team".

Meanwhile, he highlighted that “we try to be powerful during all matches, to be dynamic. The idea is to know how to play well with the ball and recover it each time it is lost to the opponent. In this competition perhaps we are not able to play at the pace we are used to".

On the topic of this Tuesday´s game the midfielder seated next to Milanic, Valon Ahmedi, predicted that "it will be a difficult game, but we have come to play our own football".

In this sense he remarked that "Sevilla has a great team. It will be a challenging match. We are going to try and return home with the most points possible. Sevilla and Liverpool are the favourites to win, but we have nothing to lose".