LOPETEGUI: "ANOTHER MATCH WILL START SHORTLY, THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART"

08/07/2020

"We have to adapt to the demands and go there with the excitement that the match requires"

Julen Lopetegui, Sevilla FC manager, has given his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's match against Athletic Club, which will kick off at 22:00 in Bilbao, the 35th league match of the season. The Basque manager began by saying that "the game is just a few hours away, that's the reality and that's what we have, there's no point in saying other things. We have to adapt to the demands and go there with the excitement that the match requires". They have a lot of quality and are one of the toughest sides in LaLiga".

"I think we have to look at what lies ahead, it's a demanding match with lots of situations of every type, which will oblige us to be very focused in order to compete well. The reality is that we've come from winning a match but another match will start shortly and if we want to reach our aims we have to focus on what is coming, without looking beyond it", added Lopetegui.

"We have to go to Bilbao well-prepared, by forgetting about everything else"

The manager is only focused on the trip to face Athletic: "What can help us is being focused on the match against Athletic, this is the most difficult part and that's what happens by playing at San Mamés tomorrow against a great team. There's no focus on anything apart from the match against Athletic, they're very complete and we can't think about any other subject. It's an objective stat that Sevilla haven't won for nine years there. The most difficult match is always the next one, and it's against Athletic. We have to go to Bilbao well-prepared, by forgetting about everything else".

He also spoke about Raúl García's ban and how the match could pan out: "They're a very physical team, if Raúl plays or not they will lose some things and win others, you never know what will happen in a match. Everyone always wants to score the first goal, but you have to be alert for ninety minutes".

"Bono has been training all season for his moment and now it's time to give him all our confidence"

Finally, Lopetegui spoke about Vaclík's injury and showed full confidence in Bono: "Tomas gave us a big fright and it isn't a serious as we thought, but he'll be out for a while. We'll look at it day by day, he's strong, he handles pain well and he will beat the medical predictions. Now it's time to give Bono all our confidence, he has been training all season for his moment".