First team

MACHÍN: 'WE WEREN'T AS CLINICAL AS WE WERE IN THE CUP'

13/01/2019

'I'm someone who lives in the present, teams are examining us with every match. If we don't keep up the same form in the second half of the season, nothing that we did in the first will count,' stated the coach

Sevilla FC's manager, Pablo Machín, analysed his team's defeat against Athletic Bilbao: 'Every game is different, that's the reality. There were many changes and the 50-50s that went for us in the cup went for them today. Williams showed the quality he has. We have to praise Athletic, we knew their fans would help them through this match. They looked to impose themselves on the game and we didn't cause enough danger to worry them. A counter from Williams, who was decisive throughout, was the killer blow. We weren't as clinical as we were in the cup.'

Given Athletic's need to pick up points in the league, the team were expecting a different beast than they faced on Thursday in the cup: 'We also needed the points. Williams was dominant up front, when he dropped back, with his pace, we have to praise such a performance from a great player. No one said that this would be easy, we would have liked to have won or got a point but we didn't manage to.'

The match against Bilbao closed off the first half of the league: 'I'm someone who lives in the present, teams are examining us with every match. If we don't keep up the same form in the second half of the season, nothing that we did in the first will count. We're still fighting in every competition.'

Machín also spoke about Nolito's injury and Munir's arrival, who made his debut against Athletic: 'We worked really hard to get Nolito's confidence to such a level that he could put in performances like the one against Leganes and in the cup and it's a real shame we won't be able to enjoy that for a while. We can only demand of Munir that he is decisive for us, he did everything he could today.'