First team

MACHÍN: 'GOING A MAN DOWN KILLED US'

29/11/2018

'It's not going to be a stroll in the park, we're going to have to fight tooth and nail,' commented the manager

Sevilla FC's manager, Pablo Machín, analysed his team's defeat in Belgium: 'Unfortunately, we have failed to win here again. Any game away from home, and especially in Europe, is complicated. We controlled the first half. They marked us man-to-man and didn't allow us to play our game which is what we had in mind. They had a massive chance when they broke the offside trap. Pablo's sending off hurt us even more. The sending off killed us but we did have some chances like Muriel's at the end which he couldn't quite put away.'

Speaking about the team's future in the competition: 'As a result of the great first half in the group stages, everything depends on us, at home, in front of our people. Our fans will push us on to qualify. Every team is difficult, even if I'm being a bit repetitive. We came up against a team that, even though they needed a win, were controlled and didn't rush things. It's not going to be a stroll in the park, we're going to have to fight tooth and nail. This group stage is very demanding and we've played a lot of games this season. We have to make our fans happy.

Regarding Aleix's injury: 'We'll have to do a few tests, he felt a niggle that was limiting him. With Navas' injury, we didn't want to take a risk. It's normal for there to be injuries in the squad, we wanted to go for the win but it wasn't to be. There are also some other circumstances that annoyed the team. They feel they didn't receive the same treatment from the referee as the home team did. Now it's time to focus on our match in Vitoria.