First team

SAMPAOLI AHEAD OF TOMORROW'S MATCH: “THE FINE MARGINS WILL PLAY A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE”

04/05/2017

The Argentine added that "We have to try to defend this position and keep looking for that third spot"

Jorge Sampaoli is wary of the test posed by Real Sociedad ahead of Friday’s game at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. Sociedad come into the game on the back of three consecutive wins in LaLiga, while Sevilla are looking to bounce back from defeat against Málaga on Monday night.

“It’s real drama, we have to win, but so do they,” said the manager. “We’re playing against a team that conducts itself well in times of an opposing side’s desperation. It’s an important game, throughout the 90 minutes the fine margins will play a very important role and we have to be ready for that.”

After defeat at La Rosaleda on Monday night, three points are vital in Sevilla’s hunt for third place in LaLiga.

“It will be difficult if we lose or don’t win, knowing that we have a good chance of winning because we’ve got a good team,” Sampaoli explained. “In Málaga we maintained our level, we just lacked being clinical and we found ourselves against a team who were very good in both boxes, theirs and ours. Knowing that, we’ve got to be on top form, create things on the attack and be clinical."

"We have a lot at stake and the anxiety levels multiply"

The Argentine expanded on Monday night's loss, and he felt that against Míchel's side, "we were superior, with a Málaga side under pressure for nearly the whole game, but against whom we weren't able to find in the box what we looked for during the game . With how the team searched and how they played, the result seemed very unjust to me. When I come to a club I put on the shirt, and in that commitment to the crest I have the same feeling of pain in defeat as a Sevilla fan has. We have a lot at stake and the anxiety levels multiply".

"At home we're strong and hopefully we'll have a good night"

The Sevilla FC boss spoke about the need to secure fourth place as soon as possible without losing sight of thrid: "We're going after something very important for the club, but other teams have also prepared to fight for those places and, aside from the fact that we got the points before, the gaps are closing now. We have to try to defend this position and keep looking for that third spot which you're always hoping for. If we finish with more than 70 points, whatever position we end up in, it's difficult to talk about failure".

Finally, Jorge Sampaoli commented that "everything is measured by results and I really want to reach the position that we had nearly all year, and I'm hoping that that's reflected in us having a good game tomorrow".