The French central defender of Sevilla Jules Koundé stressed that “football is a team sport”, with which he wanted to reduce the importance of his duel with the Norwegian striker of Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland in the first leg of the second round of the League de Campeones who will measure both teams next Wednesday at the Sánchez Pizjuán.
Koundé, in statements to UEFA.com, points out about this tie that when this pairing came out in the draw he did not think “much about it because he had no preference”.
“No matter who we face, we are going to do our best to move on to the next phase. To begin with, we will focus on our approach as a team, because that is how we always face our games ”, said the young center-back, who turned 22 last November and is currently one of the European footballers with the greatest progress in his position.
The Frenchman, who is in his second season at Sevilla, where he arrived from his country's Girondins de Bordeaux, added in this regard that the team's coaching staff, led by Julen Lopetegui, “will do its job and will try” to give the players “as much information as possible” to help “focus that match as well as possible.”
“That said, individually, I will focus a little more on Haaland, but not too much because football is a team sport and we will try to carry out our game plan as best as possible,” said Koundé, who was hired by Sevilla for some twenty million euros in a contract that expires in June 2024 and has a termination clause of around eighty million.
The Parisian, undisputed starter in the Sevilla team, also referred to his arrival in the Andalusian capital in the summer of 2019, still 20 years old, and stressed that he has “learned a lot in many facets” of his life.
“It was the first time that I was away from my family. There are moments more complicated than others, obviously. But I have also grown a lot as a footballer, because the demand is greater. We play to win every game, to win titles. The demands are different, whether they come from the coach, the coaching staff, other players or, obviously, the fans, “he said.
Koundé added that in Seville “the people are passionate, both the club workers and the outsiders. So the demand is high “and he pointed out that he” likes that a lot “and that was why he decided to sign for this team” because he needed greater demands. “
“That is what I felt here. I also felt a lot of support from the club, from my teammates, and especially from the fans. It's something that really motivates me, that really motivates us all, I think, ”he said.
Koundé explained that, above all, they play football “for the people” and that therefore, in these months of pandemic, with stadiums empty of public due to the health protocol, they have to “find other sources of motivation besides the fans “To strive and” give the best. “