Jordi Cruyff, the Yellow & Blue Head Coach looked ahead to his side’s important Europa League contest on Matchday 4 of the Europa League:
“It’s a must win game for us if we want to qualify for the next round, we have two home games coming up and we have to take 6 points if we want to move on.”
Crucial games coming up:
“If you want to qualify for the next round you have to win the next two home games. Tomorrow is the first one. To win any game you have to play with honor and pride.”
Creating more opportunities:
“We will try to hold on play with more energy and create more chances and we hope to do that against Astana and keep up the positive momentum.”
Toughest match as a coach:
“It was one of them.”
Must win:
“It’s a home game and if we win we will have the same amount of points as Astana. If we want to advance we have to win.”
About Astana:
“They have an amazing home record. Their away record is different. At home they have an advantage with the artificial pitch, but they have some very interesting players which we found out last match. I expect tomorrow will be a totally different game and we will show our potential. We still have 20% of our squad that is injured. Hopefully we will take the 3 points.”
Summing up last match:
“Astana played very well and we weren’t at our normal level and we gave away easy goals. We weren’t able to play our usual passing football. It was a very bad performance.”
Motivation going into the match:
“The motivation is clear. When you lose 4:0 it’s a result that hurts and you want to prove to the opponent that it was just one game and not the normal standard. You always want to prove yourself to the opponent.”
Advancing in Europe:
“That’s why the 4:0 was not part of the plans but sometimes you have accept that these things happen. Maccabi has looked at moving ahead in Europe. Last season we had a chance to advance when we played out last match. It’s an uncomfortable group and we have a couple of home games that we need to win if we want to make the last match relevant for a chance to move on.”
Chances:
“Football is football. Last year we eliminated Kairat who is a good team and Kairat beat them last week. Let’s hope that Villarreal do the job as they still have to qualify and the will do that before the last game. Our intention is to win the next two games and make sure that we have a chance in the last match.”
Playing Sheran Yeini last match as a right back:
“We felt that this was the right thing to do for this game.”
