Quique S. Flores: 'We’re obligated to perform against a tough opponent”
The manager believes they will be up against a motivated Bayer side
Quique Sánchez Flores doesn’t want to give up on the Europa League and hopes to beat Bayer and that Aris doesn’t win against Rosenborg. The ‘rojiblanco’ head coach acknowledged that “we depend on ourselves to a certain extent. We have to earn the victory. We’re obligated to perform against a tough opponent that will play without pressure, but with tension, as it’s a German side. We have to try and get the three points to finish with ten and have chances to qualify for the next round.”
The Atleti manager knows that his players are aware of what has happened in recently and for this reason stated that “football showed us its worst side in one week. Everything came together at the same time. The group is conscious of their situation. We have two goals. The first is to pass through to the next round and the other is to achieve the consistency that we’ve been lacking. We always want to feel good.”
Concerning the future of wide midfielder Simão Sabrosa, Quique wanted to leave it clear that “as long as the players show that they’re minds are on Atlético de Madrid, I’m going to count on them. I have no problem in doing that. The same thing happened a few months ago with Jurado. Simão’s case is a probability, but the transaction hasn’t been finalized. We believe that he’s going to be an important player for us in the three fixtures we have left before the league break. We have a very important match against Bayer and I don’t want to think about a case that hasn’t become reality, as is the departure of Simão. The decisions haven’t been made. Now I have to use the best tools available and Simão is one of them.”
The head coach of the first squad sent a message of optimism and said that “we’re the reigning champions and we’re obligated to play a good game. I’m convinced that any team in the Europa League, which is in third place and tied on points with the second-place team, believes that they have options of qualifying. We have real options. We’re going to try and win the match and then we’ll see. The Europa League has punished us harshly, as we don’t have great possibilities of passing through because of two poor second halves. We have to focus on the Bayer match and wait.
“When you win the Europa League you realise that it’s difficult to win the title. I think that, historically, nobody has won the title two seasons in-a-row. One of our goals is to earn a Champions League spot and the other, to repeat the title, is tougher. If we qualify for the next round we’ll try to go as far as possible,” he highlighted.
The Atlético de Madrid head coach doesn’t think that the possible elimination from the Europa League might hurt the group’s self-confidence. “Internally, the dressing room expected the possible effects. We’ve suffered hard after the loss to Aris, we experienced the bitterest side of defeat and that loss already affected us. From there, we started the job of putting ourselves back together. We can be either a very happy team or an eliminated team on Thursday. I’ll never evaluate it as a failure. I don’t believe in success or failure in the world of sport. Those are situations that can happen in the elite level of a sport.”
In assessing the team that he has now with respect to one season ago, Quique explained that “we’re infinitely more of a team than last season. I have no doubt about it. I have a squad with which I am satisfied. We have options in several competitions and more points in La Liga. We’re about to play in the Cup and are ahead of ourselves in many ways. Last year I went on holidays with a cold and worried about the team’s chances. Now we just went through a poor run, but it’s a stable squad and has the possibility of reaching its goals. I hope that the only goal that has gone awry, the Europa League, can be put back together on Thursday night. The dressing room is dedicated, and I have blind belief in the players.”
To finish, he analysed the play of Bayer Leverkusen, and the possibility that they will line up many players who aren’t normally starters. “Those players will be excited about earning themselves a spot, getting minutes and showing their manager that they’re good enough players for the Bayer squad. In any case, we’re going to go up against a team with a high degree of motivation,” Quique Sánchez Flores concluded.
The Atleti manager knows that his players are aware of what has happened in recently and for this reason stated that “football showed us its worst side in one week. Everything came together at the same time. The group is conscious of their situation. We have two goals. The first is to pass through to the next round and the other is to achieve the consistency that we’ve been lacking. We always want to feel good.”
Concerning the future of wide midfielder Simão Sabrosa, Quique wanted to leave it clear that “as long as the players show that they’re minds are on Atlético de Madrid, I’m going to count on them. I have no problem in doing that. The same thing happened a few months ago with Jurado. Simão’s case is a probability, but the transaction hasn’t been finalized. We believe that he’s going to be an important player for us in the three fixtures we have left before the league break. We have a very important match against Bayer and I don’t want to think about a case that hasn’t become reality, as is the departure of Simão. The decisions haven’t been made. Now I have to use the best tools available and Simão is one of them.”
The head coach of the first squad sent a message of optimism and said that “we’re the reigning champions and we’re obligated to play a good game. I’m convinced that any team in the Europa League, which is in third place and tied on points with the second-place team, believes that they have options of qualifying. We have real options. We’re going to try and win the match and then we’ll see. The Europa League has punished us harshly, as we don’t have great possibilities of passing through because of two poor second halves. We have to focus on the Bayer match and wait.
“When you win the Europa League you realise that it’s difficult to win the title. I think that, historically, nobody has won the title two seasons in-a-row. One of our goals is to earn a Champions League spot and the other, to repeat the title, is tougher. If we qualify for the next round we’ll try to go as far as possible,” he highlighted.
The Atlético de Madrid head coach doesn’t think that the possible elimination from the Europa League might hurt the group’s self-confidence. “Internally, the dressing room expected the possible effects. We’ve suffered hard after the loss to Aris, we experienced the bitterest side of defeat and that loss already affected us. From there, we started the job of putting ourselves back together. We can be either a very happy team or an eliminated team on Thursday. I’ll never evaluate it as a failure. I don’t believe in success or failure in the world of sport. Those are situations that can happen in the elite level of a sport.”
In assessing the team that he has now with respect to one season ago, Quique explained that “we’re infinitely more of a team than last season. I have no doubt about it. I have a squad with which I am satisfied. We have options in several competitions and more points in La Liga. We’re about to play in the Cup and are ahead of ourselves in many ways. Last year I went on holidays with a cold and worried about the team’s chances. Now we just went through a poor run, but it’s a stable squad and has the possibility of reaching its goals. I hope that the only goal that has gone awry, the Europa League, can be put back together on Thursday night. The dressing room is dedicated, and I have blind belief in the players.”
To finish, he analysed the play of Bayer Leverkusen, and the possibility that they will line up many players who aren’t normally starters. “Those players will be excited about earning themselves a spot, getting minutes and showing their manager that they’re good enough players for the Bayer squad. In any case, we’re going to go up against a team with a high degree of motivation,” Quique Sánchez Flores concluded.
