First team

MACHÍN: 'THEY DON'T GIFT YOU ANYTHING HERE'

08/11/2018

'They made it 2-1 in the second half and some doubts started to creep in' commented the manager

Machín analysed his team's win in Turkey: 'In the first half, we played well, going into the break with a comfortable score. During the break, I told my players that we can't switch off. They made it 2-1 in the second half and some doubts started to creep in. They didn't capitalise on the penalty and we responded well by creating two lines of four. In the end, they equalised with a good goal and we were left with the uncertainty of whether the point was a good result or not. We went for the win and we got it through the penalty. The Europa League is very difficult.

About the opposition, the manager commented: 'They demonstrated that they have the ability to score goals. They also showed us that luck exists. We could have done things better for the second goal but the goal came from a good cross and a good header. Every team has quality. Luckily, we got the three points, which was our objective. If we want to stay first we needed the victory; we're on the right course. In football, one moment can change a game.'

At the end of the match, the coach told his players that 'What happened today is very important. It seemed that what we were doing was simple but they don't gift you anything here. Today we had individual moments where we didn't do the right things and it nearly cost us.'

Speaking about Muriel and Promes, he said, 'we all expect great matches from both of them. Promes played very well and Muriel scored. Beyond the casualties we have, the team has shown that they can compete and that we can keep going forwards in three competitions.'