- Title: Sevilla ready to seize history in Europa League final says Emery
- Date: 17th May 2016
- Summary: BASEL, SWITZERLAND (MAY 17, 2016) (REUTERS) SEVILLA PLAYERS ON ST JAKOB STADIUM PITCH VARIOUS OF SEVILLA COACH UNAI EMERY TALKING TO PLAYERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SEVILLA COACH, UNAI EMERY, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION) "Every time football gives you an opportunity you have to seize it. To make history you have to live in the moment. The history we have achieved so far has been very beautiful but we want to live it again. We want to live it with intensity, live it with all of our fans, live it with all the Sevillistas and to win you have to focus on the present." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SEVILLA COACH, UNAI EMERY, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION) "To make history, to have our names recorded in the club's history is very motivating and everyone is highly motivated and it is touching everyone deeply. And I believe that everyone is indeed highly motivated. We need to find an emotional balance and that balance needs to keep us concentrated and focused on the match - 100 percent from the heart to the head." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SEVILLA COACH, UNAI EMERY, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION) "When you talk about Liverpool, before you say anything, they are one of the best teams in the world. When you talk about Liverpool, they have a history of pure football and it's not necessary for me to remind you of this. But they have won the European Cup five times and they have won six other UEFA trophies. And they have won the English League titles 18 times without mentioning the many, many other trophies they have won, which I might not have remembered. It's true the team has changed with the new coach. It's a strong team, that presses a lot and has great footballers." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SEVILLA DEFENDER, COKE, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION) "Well this of course is an advantage. What this gives us is greater confidence coming from what we've been through before and it allows us to come to this final with a certain experience. God willing this experience will be useful throughout this 90 minutes but experience is not all and it depends what you do on the pitch that day. And the one who plays the best on the day and on the field and who at the same time manages to neutralize their opponent is going to win. It's going to be 90 minutes and the best team on the night is going to win." TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS SEVILLA MIDFIELDER, YEVHEN KONOPLYANKA (LEFT), TRAINING WITH TEAM MATES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SEVILLA MIDFIELDER, DANIEL CARRICO, SAYING: (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION) "We know it's important. It's our third consecutive final and very often people don't give a lot of value to what we're doing but I believe it's an historic moment for us. We know how important tomorrow night's game is because even if we've won two finals already, we very much desire the third one." SEVILLA CAPTAIN, JOSE ANTONIO REYES (RIGHT) JOGGING WITH COACH SEVILLA MIDFIELDER, DANIEL CARRICO TRAINING SEVILLA STRIKER, FERNANDO LLORENTE AT TRAINING SEVILLA GOALKEEPER, SERGIO RICO TRAINING EMERY BLOWING HIS WHISTLE AND TALKING TO PLAYERS DURING A PRACTICE MATCH / PRACTICE MATCH IN PROGRESS TRAINING SESSION IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 1st June 2016 20:57
- Keywords: Europa League Sevilla Liverpool
- Location: BASEL, SWITZERLAND
- City: BASEL, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0014I7554V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Sevilla coach Unai Emery said on Tuesday (May 17) that his team had to stay focused on their game if they are to achieve history in this season's Europa League final.
Sevilla, current holders, have won the last two editions of the tournament and hold a record four UEFA Cup/Europa League triumphs, all in the last decade.
And if Sevilla beat Liverpool in Basel on Wednesday (May 18) they will become the first team to win three successive Europa League titles.
"Every time football gives you an opportunity you have to seize it," Emery told reporters at the pre-match news conference. "To make history you have to live in the moment. The history we have achieved so far has been very beautiful but we want to live it again. We want to live it with intensity, live it with all of our fans, live it with all the Sevillistas and to win you have to focus on the present.
"To make history, to have our names recorded in the club's history is very motivating and everyone is highly motivated and it is touching everyone deep inside. And I believe that everyone is indeed highly motivated. We need to find an emotional balance and that balance needs to keep us concentrated and focused on the match - 100 percent from the heart to the head."
Emery added that Liverpool were a tough opponent with a great history.
"When you talk about Liverpool, before you say anything they are one of the best teams in the world," he said. "When you talk about Liverpool, they have a history of pure football and it's not necessary for me to remind you of this. But they have won the European Cup five times and they have won six other UEFA trophies. And they have won the English League 18 times titles without mentioning the many, many other trophies they have won, which I might not have remembered. It's true the team has changed with the new coach. It's a strong team that presses a lot and has great footballers."
Sevilla's Coke said Sevilla had a slight advantage over Liverpool but their experience of two previous finals means nothing if Liverpool overpower them on the night.
"What this (the two previous finals) gives us is greater confidence coming from what we've been through before and it allows us to come to this final with a certain experience," Coke said. "God willing this experience will be useful throughout this 90 minutes but it's going to but experience is not all and it depends what you do on the pitch that day. And the one who plays the best on the day and on the field and who at the same time manages to neutralize their opponent is going to win. It's going to be 90 minutes and the best team on the night is going to win."
Sevilla midfielder, Daniel Carrico added: "We know it's important. It's our third consecutive final and very often people don't give a lot of value to what we're doing but I believe it's an historic moment for us. We know how important tomorrow night's games is because even if we've won two finals already, we very much desire the third one."
Emery, who has no new injury concerns from the semi-final, is banking on his team's mental resilience to become the first coach to win three consecutive Europa League trophies.
Sevilla had an easier path to the final, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 on aggregate in the semis, although they needed a penalty shootout to overcome fellow Spaniards Athletic Bilbao in the last eight.
Sevilla have endured a disappointing domestic campaign, finishing seventh in La Liga and failing to win a single away game, the only team in Europe's top five leagues to do so.
Juergen Klopp, who has breathed new life into Liverpool in his seven months in charge, would seal his place in the hearts of the club's supporters if he pulls off victory over Sevilla in Wednesday's Europa League final.
It would bring Liverpool's first European trophy since the famous fightback against AC Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005.
Klopp conjured up the spirit of that historic win in the extraordinary quarter-final performance over his former club Borussia Dortmund when the Reds turned a 3-1 halftime deficit in the second leg into a stunning 4-3 victory in stoppage time.
Liverpool's season has not been dissimilar.
Klopp's team have ended in eighth place in the Premier League, their lowest finish since 2012.
The charismatic German has proved a master of the big occasion, however, knocking out Manchester United and Villarreal as well as Dortmund with his trademark game plan of high intensity pressing. He will be looking for the same high octane performance against Sevilla. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None