Sevilla boss Unai Emery has stressed the importance of the Europa League to the club ahead of their quarter-final second-leg in Russia on Thursday.
The Andalusians take on Zenit St. Petersburg having secured a 2-1 advantage from last week’s home leg, and Emery says his players are ready to reach the next round however they do it.
“The Europa League is very important to us although we play to win in every competition,” he told a Press conference.
“We don’t think about which tournament is the most important but rather about winning the next match.
“First of all the result will be the main thing. Then we’ll think about how we achieve it as we may need extra-time and penalties, so we are getting ready for it by taking into account all possible scenarios.
“Zenit are a very strong side with great players. They have a big, experienced team with a great Coach and [Domenico] Criscito, Hulk and Danny are quality footballers.”
Emery believes the game at the Petrovsky Stadium is going to be different from the one at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
“It will be different and we’ll be ready for it. We’ll try to answer Zenit in the best way we can.
“In the first half of the first leg they were like a fortress and played very well defensively, so I’m really pleased we got back into the game after the break.
“This is another match and there will be other players involved. Zenit must score at least a goal so we’ll also need to act differently.
“We are ready for the fans to put us under pressure but we know how to overcome this and that spurs us on,” he concluded.
