We need to play like if we have to win
On the importance of the game
“It is a big game for the semi-finals. A beautiful match is ahead, and we are looking forward to playing it. It is a pity we cannot play in front of our fans, it would be the best experience. We brought a favourable result from London, on the other side, our past opponents in the Europa League brought similarly favourable result from Prague and then we went through. We must play carefully and show the top performance individually and as a team. We need to get the most from our players to make it.”
On Sima and Olayinka
“Sima and Olayinka joined the training on Wednesday. Based on the information we have, one of them should be available for the starting line-up, the other one for a part of the game, some 20 minutes. We will know more on Thursday morning after a warm-up. The situation with other players with health problems is like before the Derby.”
On a goalless draw
“We have experienced players, we have gone through many games. The only recipe is the one we have already successfully used several times. We cannot think about it, we need to play like if we must win, like if there was no first leg. We must be secure in the defence and get in front of their goal to score. We need to be mentally prepared which is not an easy task. If you count on a certain result and if you prepare to get this result, it usually ends up badly.”
On a defensive tactics
“We have so many defensive players missing that there ale almost none left on the bench. In this competition every player who starts to the game must cope with both defensive and offensive tasks. What are they lacking in the defensive part they must add in the attack to make the opponents busy. I always need to cause more trouble to my opponent than he causes me. It is a complex task. If someone plays in the defence, he must cope with offensive tasks and playing in the midfield too. Our style of play demands it.”
On the prospect of eliminating Arsenal
“It needs a great deal of patience and quality to get to the situation in which we are now. It is not easy to go through a group stage and eliminate two more opponents. It is not something you experience every day. If you have a chance like this, you want to use it. We are in a similar situation as we were before the Chelsea game two years ago, we are missing key players again. But we drew 1-1 away and we saw that we could play an equal part with Arsenal. And if we could play equal game away, we can play equal game at home too.”
On a penalty shoot-out
“I hope there will be none. I am not sure I would be able to watch it. We play at home, so, I would probably go to my office and have someone to come to tell me how it ended up. Every time a tie ends up in penalties, I am sorry for the losing team. It is kind of unfair when you give everything in two games and then the penalties decide. But such is football. We train penalties continuously and we have good players to take them.”
