MENDILIBAR: "THE PLAYERS BELIEVE IN WHAT THEY ARE DOING"

José Luis Mendilibar, manager of Sevilla FC, showed his happiness following his side’s victory against Manchester United: “It also surprised us how comfortably we were able to get past Manchester United in this match, not facing much pressure and being very dominant. It’s not easy to do this.”

On the atmosphere, the man from the Basque Country thanked the fans: “The welcome we received when we came in on the bus was incredible, as was the start of the match when we heard the Club’s anthem. It was incredible, and we had to make the most of that so that the team could perform to their best.”

Speaking about how the team has made it to another semifinal, Mendilibar praised the way the club treats European competitions: “This is a team that is used to achieving these big things. We came back from a difficult position in Manchester where we were playing poorly and went 2-0 down, but the players believed in what they could do. At the end of the day, we have done it. We have to focus on the next match, what we have done to this point and on our next opponent, Juventus. Before that, we have games in the league to deal with.”

He was saddened by Marcao’s injury though: “I hope that it won’t be a big issue. It’s a shame, it looked as if he was back to fitness, he was feeling very good. I hope that it will not be a big setback.”

Finally, he was very happy with this performance as we enter into the final part of the season: “This is going to be good for us, the players believe in what they are doing. Until now we hadn’t played that well. Then against Celta with a man less and what happened, happened. We went to Manchester and it looked as if we were very lucky to get a draw. In the Mestalla, we won 0-2 despite not playing very well. Today was a more complete performance. I hope that, from now, we start to believe in what we can do up-front, and not just at the back.”