This press conference was originally streamed on the Real Betis Balompié YouTube channel.
Manuel Pellegrini and Joaquín on EuroBetis
Pellegini: “Qualifying for the Europa League was a big achievement last season. This is the start of a competition which is always exciting to be involved in. It’s an added bonus on top of league football, it’s neither more nor less important so we need to be mentally ready to play in two competitions. We had a good win in Granada on Monday night and now we have to prepare ourselves mentally to make it through to the next round of the Europa League. We’re all excited about it and now we’ve got to show it out on the pitch.”
“I want to go as far as possible in each competition we’re involved in. With Betis being such a popular club and having such a huge fanbase, achieving things here is doubly important, as so many people celebrate it. We all know it and we need to show it. But we can’t think too far into the future, we need to focus on the present moment. We’ve got a game tomorrow and if we’re able to win it, we’ll be a step closer to out first goal of qualifying for the next round of the Europa League.”
“I’ve always said that the Europa League is really tough, tougher than the Champions League. Not because of the level of the teams because the best teams play in the Champions League, but because of the need to play on Thursday, get home early on Friday morning and then play again on Sunday. That’s why we need at least two players for each position.”
Joaquín: “Competing in Europe is special. I hope tomorrow is going to be a great day for us and for Betis fans everywhere. Of course, this is all the result of the hard work we put in last year when we showed determination and desire throughout the season. We’re ready and desperate to get this Europa League campaign off on the right foot, we want to give the fans a first victory to enjoy. But obviously we’re facing a great team and we need to show it on the pitch.”
Pellegrini on Celtic
“We’ve obviously had a good look at Celtic, they’re a team that always plays in Europe, whether it’s the Champions League or the Europa League. It’s a club that’s used to winning trophies, so we’re coming up against a great team and we need to know how to deal with them. We can’t give them the advantage of being allowed to play a typical ‘Scottish-style’ game; we have to play our own game and style of football, which we’re always trying to improve, no matter who we play against. Certain tactical elements depend on the opposition but 90% of our focus is on what we do on the pitch ourselves. We’ll do well if we have good levels of concentration and intensity and work as a team for 90 minutes.”
“I said before the game in Granada that it would obviously have been better for us to play earlier and had some extra rest for this game. But there’s nothing we can do about it now and playing on Monday isn’t going to be an excuse for us. As I said earlier, we’ve got a squad that’s ready for the three competitions that we’re involved in. Tomorrow it’s the Europa League and we need to see which players have recovered the quickest, which players deserve to start this game, whether for physical, technical or tactical reasons. We’ll try to put out 11 players to win the game; the difference (in recovery time) is no excuse for tomorrow.”
Pellergini on team selection
“Marc Barta is out. He picked up an injury in the game the other day. I can’t say much more than that as we need to wait for his medical report. But the type of injury he has means he’ll almost certainly be out for a couple of weeks.”
“Youssouf Sabaly isn’t available, neither is Victor Camarasa.”
“All the players are ready to play three games a week although I don’t know if they can all play seven games in 21 days, that’s more complicated. So from that point of view, the players know that we’re going to try to make the most of having a 25-man squad. We think most of them are performing at a good level, they’re pushing themselves as much as possible and they’ve got the competitive mentally required to try to win both international and LaLiga games.”
“Sergio Canales had some injury issues (before the Granada match) but even if he had been 100% fit, I think he would’ve been rested (from the start) anyway, as all the players will be at some point to ensure that we can perform in these seven games at as high a level as possible, both physically and tactically. Sergio is very professional, he really looks after himself. The important thing is that each player brings something to the team when they get the chance, like Sergio did after coming on the other day with his fantastic goal which won us the game.”
Pellegrini on Joaquín
“I’ve already decided if Joaquín is going to play tomorrow – at least I think I have – but I’m not going to tell you. Joaquín is never going to be satisfied with playing for 15 minutes. If he plays for 15, he wants to play for 30. If he plays for 30, he wants to play for 45. If he plays for 60, he wants to play for 90. It’s this mentality that’s allowed him to remain competitive for so long, as well as looking after himself physically and always being motivated. He’s very demanding of himself and the fact that he always wants more is something that I think is really positive for the squad and isn’t a problem for me at all. If he didn’t have that attitude, that would tell me that he wasn’t mentally competitive anymore. He’s on my case about this all the time!”
Joaquín on lifting the Europa League trophy in the Sánchez Pizjuán (home to Sevilla, Betis’ city rivals).
“If the hunger and excitement is still there, you can keep competing in Europe like any other player, even when you’re 40 years old. I’ve got plenty of that left. For us, the most important thing last year was not getting too far ahead of ourselves and taking one game at a time. That was our objective. And I think this year needs to be the same. The most important game for us is tomorrow’s against Celtic. As the manager said, I think we’re ready. In the game the other day, the team took a big step forward, we looked really solid, we knew exactly what we were doing, always looking to attack the opposition goal, which was really encouraging. Tomorrow’s match will be difficult but we can’t think about anything other than getting off to a good start.”