LOPETEGUI: "WE'RE FACING A GOOD VILLARREAL SIDE WHO WILL FORCE US TO PUT IN A TREMENDOUS EFFORT"

21/06/2020

The manager spoke about the strength of Villarreal ahead of tomorrow's game

Julen Lopetegui spoke to the press this morning before another away trip. As he has done in every press conference, the manager emphasised his confidence in the squad in the whole squad: "At the end we'll wait and see, every hour is important, and think about a scenario where we're playing in less than 72 hours. In any case, we have full confidence and we'll need everyone, we don't have an excessively big squad and everyone will give meaning to the group and to the team in order to approach a demanding match at the highest level".

Although he wanted to focus on Monday's game, the Sevilla manager had to defend the sportsmanship of his squad after being asked about some incidents in Friday's match against FC Barcelona: "I haven't been paying attention, but I can assure you that we are a very sportsmanlike team and we try not only to say it but to do it, that's the feeling". In addition, he was questioned about the team's success in front of goal, and began to analyse the upcoming match against the Yellow Submarine: "In the end the important thing is having chances, sometimes they come in and sometimes they don't, but I think the team has been at a good level. It's a new scenario for everyone, and it's very continuous. It's going to be a match against a good Villarreal team that will force us to make a tremendous effort. We want to go there with the good intention of getting three points and playing well, so we'll have to be good both mentally and physically".

"We'll have to be good both mentally and physically"

The manager of the Nervionenses was also asked about the influence of VAR, but he said he was already focused on what the team will have to face tomorrow evening: "I am not going to give my opinion about the VAR. I think I have always said that VAR has come to help, but controversy will always exist. From that point on, it's more likely that the calls will be right. For me to talk about the match against Barcelona is a waste of energy, as we have to be focused and be 100% focused on a match that will be very nice, very demanding and very hard".

Lopetegui also spoke about the fact that many matches are decided at the latter stages of the match: "This type of situation is occurring, there's that equality and matches are being decided late on. Villarreal is a solid team that has good players, which is going to make tomorrow's match complicated, but we are going with enthusiasm and the good intention of getting three points".

On the Champions League: "There's a real evenness, there will be lots of teams involved in that fight"

The manager also highlighted the short space of time between the last match and tomorrow's match, stressing the importance of the build up to assess who will play: "We won't have our starting eleven until tomorrow for different reasons, but we'll play less than 72 hours after our last game. We have to wait because it's constant, everything makes us have to be very close to what happens to see who plays each game".

To finish, Lopetegui spoke about the race for the Champions League: "It's very hard. There's a real evenness, there will be lots of teams involved in that fight, we have to live with each situation quickly to focus on the next match. From then on, every match will go to the wire and we'll have to be ready".