LOPETEGUI: "EVERY GAME AT THE SÁNCHEZ PIZJUÁN IS SPECIAL"

Julen Lopetegui had his press conference in the lead up to the home game tomorrow evening against Real Madrid. He was positive and confident about how his team have been playing up until now: "We are still recovering from our last game and the journey home. At the minute everything is coming at us very quickly and we are trying to make the most of every hour. The most important thing is that the players are ready come the first whistle tomorrow night. We will need everyone tomorrow to be in the right mindset. The more dilemmas I have over my team selection, the better".

"The support from our fans is going to be unwavering"

Additionally, Lopetegui also made it clear that he is only focusing on Sevilla, and not on Real Madrid: "We have to focus on what Sevilla are going to do tomorrow, that's what's most important. We are facing a fantastic team who are going to require us to be at our very best to beat them. However, we will focus on what we are going to do and playing against a team like Madrid, it's pleasing to see what we can do well. We will look at the ins and outs of our opponent to see how to attack them well, and defend well against them. We know the quality that they have, but we are only focused on ourselves. We are a familiar team but there's differences between every single match. We will see what happens tomorrow".

"Every night there's a game at the Sánchez Pizjuán, it's great because the atmosphere is unique and can't be compared to anywhere else. Real Madrid is our rival this time and as always, we are going to treat them with respect. We want all three points, this much is obvious. In order to do this, we need to do everything well and the support from our fans will, as ever, be an incredible help to us".

The manager wasn't placing too much importance on their league position: "I don't focus on what might happen in the future, but only on what happens each day. Every game will require us to have the highest levels of concentration. I haven't thought about anything else other than tomorrow's game, and that can be said for all the players as well. For me, the extra motivation that I have is because I'm the coach of Sevilla FC. Being their coach is incredible, and I hope I can do it for many years to come. The three points up for grabs is enough motivation for anyone. However, we know that there's more attention than normal because it is Real Madrid who we are facing".

"Being the coach of Sevilla FC is incredible"

Now that he is the coach of Sevilla FC, he took time to remember his time at the helm of Real Madrid: "I always have good memories of where I've played and coached. On top of this I just try to do my job as best as possible. Tomorrow, the players are going to be the ones who decide the game, not the managers".

He was also asked about Chicharito, who scored a wonder goal on Thursday night: "I've considered a few different line-ups for tomorrow's game. We will have to wait and see how the players recover and after this, we will re-assess. We will wait until tomorrow to take the decision. We haven't had much time in between matches, so therefore, we have to wait until everything becomes clear. On the other hand, we are still waiting to hear about the recovery of Chicharito. What I do like is what the team are doing at this moment; that we are well prepared, solid and that we do everything well. The team always comes first".

To finish off, he spoke about the good form his team are experiencing: "This is just the beginning. We have things to improve on and consolidate on what we have already done well, because although you do some things well, there's no guarantee that you will continue to do them perfectly. We have to be very switched on in order to help the team improve in all aspects of the game".