Real Betis manager, Gabriel Calderon insists that they must make it to the next round of the Europa League as a way of honouring the fans, who have shown overwhelming support as the team nears mathematical relegation in La Liga.
In his pre-match press conference, Calderon spoke about the upcoming match that will be in near freezing temperatures and the challenge they face against Rubin Kazan.
“We have a number of injured players, but as I said in the first leg, we shall field the best players available to get through to the next round. We haven’t been fortunate with the referees, all we hope is that in this match everything in refereeing terms is normal, as it nearly always is. Then it is up to us to fight, in a sporting way, on the field of play to qualify for the next elimination round.
“The ground is really very good. It’s excellent.
“In every match we play we have to try to make the supporters happy, because there has been too much sadness this year. It would be great if we qualified, but that doesn’t relieve us of our responsibility to do well week in week out so the supporters feel proud of their team .”
Calderon then discussed the rumours that the players got into a scuffle and if there would be an changes from the first to the second leg.
“You will have to ask the players about that, but that is history now. Now we have to focus on tomorrow’s match and for there to be an atmosphere of fair play, but that is what the referee is there for.
“There won’t be many changes, but for me the UEFA Europa League was never of secondary importance. For me the next match is always the most important one. It was hard for the team to qualify so we are going to field the best team we have available.”
Calderon concluded by stating that he won’t be thinking about a possible Sevillan derby in the next round of the Europa League.
“No, first we have to focus on tomorrow’s match. Once we have qualified there will be time enough to think about the derby.”
In his pre-match press conference, Calderon spoke about the upcoming match that will be in near freezing temperatures and the challenge they face against Rubin Kazan.
“We have a number of injured players, but as I said in the first leg, we shall field the best players available to get through to the next round. We haven’t been fortunate with the referees, all we hope is that in this match everything in refereeing terms is normal, as it nearly always is. Then it is up to us to fight, in a sporting way, on the field of play to qualify for the next elimination round.
“The ground is really very good. It’s excellent.
“In every match we play we have to try to make the supporters happy, because there has been too much sadness this year. It would be great if we qualified, but that doesn’t relieve us of our responsibility to do well week in week out so the supporters feel proud of their team .”
Calderon then discussed the rumours that the players got into a scuffle and if there would be an changes from the first to the second leg.
“You will have to ask the players about that, but that is history now. Now we have to focus on tomorrow’s match and for there to be an atmosphere of fair play, but that is what the referee is there for.
“There won’t be many changes, but for me the UEFA Europa League was never of secondary importance. For me the next match is always the most important one. It was hard for the team to qualify so we are going to field the best team we have available.”
Calderon concluded by stating that he won’t be thinking about a possible Sevillan derby in the next round of the Europa League.
“No, first we have to focus on tomorrow’s match. Once we have qualified there will be time enough to think about the derby.”