DIEGO CARLOS: "IF WE WANT TO PROGRESS IN THIS COMPETITION WE HAVE TO WORK WITH THESE DIFFICULTIES"

11/03/2020

The centre-half spoke about the tie against AS Roma, with Covid-19 the centre of attention

Diego Carlos offered his thoughts after the final training session ahead of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 first-leg match against AS Roma. The Brazilian spoke about the importance of the match, and its context with the threat of Covid-19: "We have a very important match. We know about everything that's happening, but we have to be focused on this match, because if we want to progress we have to overcome these difficulties, which are there for both sides".

The centre-half spoke about playing behind closed doors: We do training sessions at the ground knowing that it's different. You can't take away that desire to win, we have to have fighting spirit. We don't have our fans, but I think they'll be with us and we have to focus on doing the best we can to move forward".

Regarding raising awareness of coronavirus, he said that the club are close to them, but that the squad are focused on tomorrow's match: "The club have spoken to all of us about this serious issue, but we're very calm and thinking about a very important match for all our fans. We can't do anything about it. This type of match is one where the fans want to enjoy it in our stadium, us too with them, this stadium is always a cauldron. As we can't, I hope we can make them happy".

"We have to have calmness and patience"

Diego Carlos is happy with the side's form: "The team feels good after that good point against Atlético. Against Roma we have to have calmness and patience, it's the first important chance and we want to go in the second leg with an advantage".

To finish, he spoke about playing both legs behind closed doors: "No two grounds are the same. Here we have to go out with the confidence to win. I'm happy and I'm having a good time with Sevilla FC and I hope it continues".