First team

MACHÍN: 'WE ARE HOPING TO FACE THE BEST BARCELONA'

22/02/2019

The manager dedicated some words to Roberto Alés: 'I've only been here a short time but I met him and saw all he did for the club'

Pablo Machín appeared before the media in the run-up to the game against FC Barcelona. Before starting he wished to dedicate some words to Roberto Alés for whom there was a minute of silence in the press room: 'I would like to share, along with the entire Sevilla family, all of my condolences. I've only been here a short time but I met him and saw all he did for the club. He was the president who marked a before and after in a great period for the club. I hope we can help these moments be more bearable for all those concerned, football is one thing but family is another.'

He then went on to speak about tomorrow's game: 'We know they always play their best against us because they respect us and because we give them a tough game. I hope it'll just be like the first leg of the cup here. We are able to win, especially with the crowd pushing us on. It will be an incredibly tough match as we are playing the best team of the past few seasons. We have to look back on the last match here. We are the same team and we won deservedly. We have to try and replicate that, although every game is different and we have to be secure in defence and clinical in attack.

Regarding injuries, he has given Navas a spot in the squad: 'Escudero does miss out. Other than the injured players we already had, Navas is the biggest doubt. We have to see how he comes along, these 24 hours are important to see how he is.' On Messi's importance, the manager did not want to discredit his teammates: 'He is the best in the world and we have to realise that. That's obvious but their team is very strong as well. Barcelona scored five against Real Madrid without Messi; he is important but the collective is even more so.'

Finally, Machín spoke about what he hopes his team can do tomorrow: 'Theory is one thing but we hope to put it into practice tomorrow. We will try to maximise our strengths, be offensive and play in their half, but they will try to prevent that. The opponent will not want us to be in charge and we are against one of the best.'