El equipo baja del avión a su llegada a Vilna

First team

SERGI GÓMEZ: "THE ARTIFICIAL PITCH SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM"

15/08/2018

The defender spoke to the media on arrival in Lithuania: "They now have the factor of playing at home and will try to make things difficult for us"

Sergi Gómez spoke to Club media this Wednesday moments after landing in Vilnius. He evaluated what will be a crucial match tomorrow: "We know how important it is and that the result in the first leg was not big. It's not going to be easy but we came with enthusiasm, ready to get a result. For Zalgiris it was very important to play in a stadium like the Sánchez-Pizjuán and they made it difficult for us to score more goals. Now they have the factor of playing at home and they'll try to make things difficult for us again".

One key factor in the match could be the playing surface, though the defender seemed calm: "We're not used to the artificial pitch but it shouldn't be a problem. We did our last training session in Seville on an artificial ptich and it shouldn't present anything terrible. It can have an effect above all else on the concepts of play, when controlling the game, but you have to adapt as quickly as possible and for the same reason we'll train there today".

"The important thing is to face up to it, be compact and come out to compete. Every goal away from home is important and even more so in a tie like this. We know that we have to go for every opportunity and the sooner we can score, the better". He finished up by evaluating his chances of starting: "Everyone who has come is available but the one who picks the eleven is the boss and he has his criteria to make decisions. If we get through we know that it can be a season with a lot of matches but the squad has been reinforced so it can be fresh every three or four games".