First team

MACHÍN ON THE DRAW: 'WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GET THROUGH BUT WE MUSN'T BE COMPLACENT'

22/02/2019

Sevilla FC's manager was cautious when speaking about Slavia Prague, the team's opponent in the Europa: 'No one should think this is going to be a walk in the park, Slavia have a lot of ability'

With the press conference and the UEFA Europa League draw over, Pablo Machín spoke to the official media about the team's draw against Slavia Prague: 'Every team in the draw has got there because they deserve it and every opponent would be difficult. We have to be realistic, there are some teams no one wanted and the team we are up against is not the biggest team in the competition but it will be very difficult - in the group stage they finished above Bordeaux. We trust in our ability to get to the next round but we will not be complacent.'

Analysing the Czech team, he said 'currently they are top of their league. There are always some very good teams in lesser-known leagues, we saw it with Sigma Olomouc in the qualifying rounds. All of the teams are tough, even more in Europe, we're going to have to play very well to get through. No one should think this is going to be a walk in the park, Slavia have a lot of ability.'

Speaking about what it means to play the first leg at home, Machín says 'it will be different to the last tie. It's important to still be in contention for when the tie is decided in the second leg and we mustn't think it's a disadvantage to play the second leg away as our goals will count double. We have to play well, get a good result at home, keep a clean sheet and then put in our best performance over there.'

To finish, he analysed the opponent's chances of scoring, insisting that his team must be alert from the first moment: 'We aren't going to compare the worth of goals in different leagues. Every team has good players. In any given moment one decision can change the direction of a tie and we have to be at our best.'