"The Standard must win and will give everything from the start"

One point could be enough for FC Sevilla to snatch qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday night at Standard. Pablo Machin, the Andalusian coach, ensures that his players will not have the head already at the match of Liga which will oppose them to Alavès, Sunday evening.

"This club is demanding enough to fight on all fronts", he said Wednesday at a press conference in Sclessin."And my core is big enough to allow me to line up two competitive teams in both matches. My coaching role is also that of a manager."

Sevilla however suffered during each European trip and he does not expect anything else Thursday. "This must be enough to keep everyone focused. If we do not control the game, we risk having problems because the Standard must win and will give everything from the start."

Of the first match against Standard, he kept in mind that it was a team "able to recover a lot of balloons and to go up the ball very fast with very fast attackers. To surprise the defense, we will have to showcase our collective game."

Michel Preud'homme badured that Seville had as many qualities as Real Madrid or Barcelona. "The tastes and the colors, it is not discussed", replies Machin with a smile.The teams mentioned also have a super core but I am the coach of Seville and I have enough work not to badyze the qualities of our rivals. Our first place in La Liga, however, does not surprise me because we have set everything in place to make it so."

Wissam Ben Yedder had scored two goals in the first leg. But the French striker expects another meeting in Sclessin.

"I heard that matches here were always very complicatedBen Yedder told a press conference on Wednesday.We had the control of the first leg but here we enter the decisive phase of the competition and it will be something else."

Seville is currently leading the La Liga. For Ben Yedder, the secret lies in the collective aspect. "No one is trying to stand out, we are united and we work a lot collectively", concludes the 28-year-old striker.