Julen Lopetegui, coach of Sevilla, has warned of the quality of Dinamo Zagreb and is clear that his team will suffer in Croatia to pass the playoff tie to the round of 16 of the Europa League, in which the Andalusians come with the advantage 3-1 reached in the first leg at the Sánchez Pizjuán. The Basque coach has put the accent on the attack of a team that has quality players like the Croatian international Orsic. “We know Dinamo’s potential and not just Orsic’s. He also did another hat-trick (apart from the one he signed against Tottenham) against Atalanta in the Champions League, he also scored against Villarreal, he has Petkovic, he has Juric, they have signed Emreli, who we know from Qarabag. And they have a clear idea of how to press and how to face the players”, he pointed out.
Asteasu’s man appeared at the official UEFA press conference before his team’s training session on Thursday’s match scene. “They have great potential. There (in Seville) it was a much more complex game than the result says and tomorrow it will be much more so. We have to prepare ourselves to give our best version,” warned Lopetegui.
“They have a very clear way of playing, which they are going to strengthen more because of the result of the first leg. They go for the games and for the rivals from the beginning, and that is what they are going to do. It is what they have usually done. It is an intense team, aggressive, very physical and that also knows how to play football. We have to be focused on what we can do and what we can expect”, added the coach of the Seville team, who has referred to Koundé’s irregular season, sent off for the second time in the match against Espanyol. “Jules is still very young. He has grown a lot and is at a high level of demand due to that growth that he has had, both with his national team and with Sevilla. And this year he’s had a number of physical complications and he’s in the final stretch at that point. It’s not easy. But he is trying to help the team, trying to overcome the circumstances he has had, above all the most important thing, which is physics, and I think he is already in the final stretch to confront the final stretch of the season with solvency, it is what we want”.
Lastly, after ignoring Martial’s injury and giving hardly any details about it, he referred to Rakitic and his knowledge of Croatian football. “Ivan knows Dinamo well and he knows Zagreb and his role is as an experienced player who tries to help, he always does. And tomorrow he will have if he plays the same responsibility as any teammate, which will be to help out in a game that is going to be complicated and we are going to have to work very hard and well to be able to achieve it”.