Julen Lopetegui in the press conference ahead of Granada CF
First team

LOPETEGUI: "THEY ARE A STRONG TEAM, THEY BEAT US THERE AND ARRIVE AFTER WINNING AGAINST ALAVÉS"

07/04/2022
"His return, like that of any other player, is good news because all the players that we can have available make us more competitive" he explained about the possible return of Papu

.Sevilla FC coach Julen Lopetegui, addressed the media at midday in the press conference ahead of the game against Granada CF tomorrow on Friday at 21:00 at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. The Basque coach began by highlighting that "we are playing against a team that beat us. We are aware of the importance of every game and that every team has its own aims and are treating these games like finals. The opponent is strong and we are going to have problems. They beat Alavés away from home in their last match on the road. We focus on what we can do and what we need to to get three very important points." 

"You have give this group the praise it deserves. With all of the difficult circumstances, another team would have given up or thrown in the towel and they have never done this and they have come back stronger. Tomorrow we will have to show this against a complex and difficult opponent. From now on the most important thing is how we face it ourselves, but you have to give them a lot of credit for always fighting to overcome the difficult circumstances. The key phrase I think is to rise up against everything" he continued.  

"The message that we send to the fans is that they should be proud of their team because they do their best on the pitch"

Lopetegui replied about the possible inclusion of Papu Gómez and also about the Sevilla fans: "Papu will be in the squad. He has trained a bit and we will see tomorrow how many minutes he can play. His return, like that of any other player, is good news because all the players that we can have available make us more competitive. The message that we send to the fans is that they should be proud of their team because they do their best on the pitch. We will try to achieve our aim of getting into the Champions League for the third consecutive year. It will be difficult because there are many teams who want to do it but the support of the fans and the work of the team means we have to try to achieve it."

The red and whites coach was asked about the three-match suspension to his assistant Pablo Sanz following his dismissal at the Camp Nou: "I feel that the suspension is disproportionate because I was next to him and he said nothing. It is better to be blunt in these types of situations than in others. The job of the referees is to manage the game and we want them to do their best. I don't think it is fair but the most important decision is what the sanctions committee decide. We have to help them and they also have to help themselves and everything could be managed better if there are no insults or anything involved."

To finish, Lopetegui, speaking about Bono, said that "individual awards are the product of a collective effort and Bono knows it. To get a clean sheet, together with his good performances, is the work of all the team."