First team

CASTRO: "WE'RE NOT TAKING THIS GAME LIGHTLY"

06/11/2019

The President wasn't in the mood to talk about the derby on Sunday, and knows that Dudelange demand the full respect of the team

José Castro spoke to the press just before boarding the plane that will take the team to Luxembourg. The President wanted to make clear how important tomorrow evening's game is: "We aren't taking the game lightly at all, and we are going with full focus towards a game the might look easy to win on paper. However, the thing that has made us great in this competition is the fact we take every game seriously and give it the attention it deserves". As for the derby, he wasn't in the mood to talk about it: "I want to talk about the next game, because it's a complicated one. As soon as the final whistle is blown tomorrow evening, we can start to talk about the other game".

Although there is a massive game coming up on Sunday, against the team's biggest rival, the arrangement of the week couldn't be anymore different for the two clubs: "The weeks go quicker when you play more games. For us, we are used to the weeks being shorter as we have been playing on Wednesdays and Sundays for 15 of the last 16 years. The only thing that matters to us right now is Dudelange, because with a win we will qualify to the knockout stages and then we can start thinking ahead".

Talking about the team's current form: "We're playing well at the moment in the Europa League. We've won three out of three and we have to keep this up. We must win tomorrow because the fans deserve it, and also for economical reasons of course". He was then asked another question about Sunday's match: "If something has made us great it's the fact we can focus on the next game ahead of us. We can't afford to be distracted heading into a Europa League fixture. Afterwards, we can then think about La Liga".

"We've won three out of three and we have to keep this up"

Obviously, he will not have a say in the line-up for tomorrow: "Lopetegui is a magnificent coach, and he's shown that since he's been here. He always says what he thinks, and does it with a degree of professionalism. I'm not going to question his line-ups". In addition, he spoke about the possible renewal of Carriço's contract: "We are in negotiations with him but there's still no white smoke. We hope that we can get it done soon".

He finished off by speaking about tomorrow's match: "I don't think tomorrow's game will be a booby trap of a match. It's another match in the Europa League and one that will bring up our 200th game in European competitions. There are still a lot more to come, but if something has made us what we are today it's the fact that we treat every opponent with the utmost respect".