Julen Lopetegui during the press conference

First team

LOPETEGUI: "IF WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO COMPETE WELL, WE WILL COME HOME WITH EGG ON OUR FACE"

13/09/2019

Lopetegui didn't confirm if Ocampos or Chicharito would be in the squad for Sunday's game against Alavés

After celebrating the victory of the Spanish basketball team in the semi-final of the Basketball World Cup, Lopetegui began his press conference looking ahead to the game against Deportivo Alavés: "Every game is important, but after having spent a bit of time away from each other, we are trying to make the most of these three training sessions together to prepare for a game where we are going to have to be at our best. Alavés have only conceded one goal so far, and so they will make things very difficult for us. It will be a very demanding game and we will have to be fully focused".

Speaking about his own players, he didn't confirm if Ocampos would return or not: "He is back training and we are going to see what he's like tomorrow, which is when we will do the squad list and we'll see if he's included or not". Likewise he also spoke about Chicharito: "When we don't have a lot of time together, every minute matters. We will wait until tomorrow to make a decision on him and on everyone else. These players that play in the Americas are the ones who lose out on the most time, and that's why for him, we changed the schedule slightly. He's working well but we will make the decision on him tomorrow".

Sevilla face a congested fixture list, but Lopetegui is only focusing on Sunday: "There's two ways of looking at it; either looking at the fixture list as a whole, or what I see which is just Alavés. We have to channel all our energy into each game we play and this is a way of focusing on that. We will try our best as we always do. We would rather run than walk, but Alavés is a tough game and it will be a hard match in Vitoria. If you don't know how to compete with them, you can go home with egg on your face. It's a difficult ground to go to, playing against this team and their manager. They know how to compete and how to hurt you, so we have to be able to figure them out for ourselves. The focus is on keeping up the mentality, preparing ourselves well and trying to take all three points".

The coach has various plans ready for Sunday: "Alavés have defended with different systems and we have to prepare to face either a four or a five man defence. Regardless of what they do, we have to focus on what we know we can do". After two away wins, it's time to continue the good form: "We will continue trying to take points off all our rivals. Obviously, we can't afford to give them the slightest advantage, neither mentally nor physically. We have to remember to do this every single day. After that, we have to attack and defend well - this is what competing is. Soemtimes we'll win games, other times we won't. That's how football works".