Unai Emery has insisted that Sevilla “won’t give up on second place” in Group D of the Champions League, despite Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.
Yevhen Konoplyanka put the Andalucians ahead after half an hour, only for Wilfried Bony to equalise six minutes later and the English giants to find an injury-time winner thanks to Kevin de Bruyne, but the Coach is convinced his side can take back ownership of second place in two weeks.
“We know these three points won’t come back, but we’re optimistic,” he said after the game.
“We play our next match at home, and playing at Sanchez Pizjuan is always special. I won’t give up on second place.
“We’ve shown we can compete at the highest level. If we beat City in two weeks then we’ll be [second again].
“We must analyse [tonight’s] match, and I’m sure we’ll find things which will make us a better team.
“We wanted to win from the first minute to the 90th. I’m looking forward and remaining confident that my team will improve.
“We were small details away from perfection. Without being happy, I was pleased with many aspects [on Wednesday].
“I’m happy with Konoplyanka’s progress, adaptation and desire [to do well].
“He took an important step towards fitting into our system [on Wednesday] and had a great game with [Benoit] Tremoulinas [on the left].
“We saw an improvement in his game, and it’s tremendously positive that it came against City.”
