Tiago: "I would sign on to win all the matches on set pieces"

To begin, Tiago talked about his teammate Griezmann, noting that "Antonie is a kid. He’s pure joy, a person who’s always laughing, joking and very happy. He is a player of great quality and who’ll contribute a lot to us this season. I'm sure. We talked about the time when I was playing in Lyon. He was a child then, and he told me he went to see Olmpique’s matches. Because of this, I pick on him, and tell him he has learnt a lot with me. They’re things from the past, but it’s nice to know he went to see my matches and now plays with me and I can enjoy his talent".

He was asked about the secret of set pieces and he said that it's "a lot of work and many trainings. Yesterday, we had seven or eight corner kicks and we have very good strikers and very good people putting the ball in the box. We all know each other well and work week-to-week on set pieces. At this moment in the season, it has helped a lot. It’s giving us plenty of points and we must continue like this. Hopefully in the next game, we can score another goal like that".

Sevilla is a strong and compact team. Saturday’s match will surely be a hard one

And the fact that most of the goals in the League have come from set pieces indicated that "it’s very strange, but we are not dependent on set pieces although the numbers show that we are. The team plays, creates opportunities. It’s true that we are not being efficient, but set pieces give us the solution. We want to win the matches and I would sign on to win all the matches on set pieces. It’s football, we work hard and leave the matches happy because in the end, the work continues giving results".

On Saturday, Sevilla arrives at the Calderón, a tough opponent. "Sevilla has a great coach, a great connoisseur of Spanish football, who knows how to play each game. It’s his second year and I see the team has consolidated his ideas. He falls back and they have fast and qualitative players. They’ve lost an important player but truthfully, it isn’t noticeable. Sevilla is a strong and compact team. Saturday’s match will surely be a hard one".

Finally, he spoke about the pressure that the team has as League champions. "We ourselves have that pressure. We love winning. We live to win. No doubt that last year, we rose to a very, very high level and everyone expects to see this, and so do we. We know that there have been many significant departures and there have been many additions and that a team is not built overnight. We’re growing, but the enthusiasm and desire to win will be there in every game. A loss and a draw would not have changed anything because we wanted to win in Almería. If we had won in Champions and against Celta, it would be the same. We have a lot of enthusiasm and are eager to win all the matches and that ambition and that enthusiasm are what lead us to be the team we are", he concluded.