Eibar vs Sevilla FC Preview

Sevilla coach Unai Emery has warned his side against getting distracted by their upcoming match against Real Madrid when they visit Eibar on Wednesday.

The Andalusians are still in the hunt for fourth place, and trail Valencia by two points.

They are also looking to go the entire season unbeaten at their Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan home, with Madrid’s visit on Saturday posing the biggest threat to that aim.

And in little over a week Emery’s side host Fiorentina in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie, but the coach insisted in a press conference that his side were only concentrating on their trip to Ipurua.

Asked if his side were focusing on the game with Carlo Ancelotti’s side, he said: “First of all, that (talk of Madrid) is coming from the press. Secondly, none of the players are answering questions about Real Madrid nor Fiorentina. Thirdly, the three points from the Eibar game are just as important as the points against Real Madrid.

“We can talk about the importance of Fiorentina later. Our bid to get in the Champions League depends on what we do tomorrow at Eibar. If we don’t win, the door will start closing on our chances.”

The coach also admitted his players are feeling the strain of the fixture pile-up, as their match with Madrid will be their fourth in 10 days.

“There has been an accumulation of demanding games and we need to manage the players well and see how they recover,” he said.

“I hope they can all stay fit, but there’s a risk of injury. Experience tells us that we need to pay a lot of attention to managing our squad.”

And he insisted he was not considering resting players on four yellow cards, such as Carlos Bacca and Jose Antonio Reyes, who would miss the match with Madrid if they earned a booking at Eibar.

“I normally don’t think it’s important that players on yellow cards could miss the next game,” he said.

Sevilla be without influential forward Vitolo and first-choice goalkeeper Beto for the match at Eibar through injury, and both players are fighting to be fit for the clash with Madrid.

Eibar, meanwhile, are still without forward Angel Rodriguez and goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez, while defender Raul Navas is doubtful.

Eibar’s defeat 2-0 at Almeria on Sunday saw the Basque side slip to within two points of the relegation zone, although the result was overshadowed by coach Gaizka Garitano walking out of the post-match press conference over a disagreement with local journalists over answering questions in the Basque language.

However, the coach insists he has already put the incident behind him.

He told a press conference: “On Sunday night I started to think about the game with Sevilla, watching videos of them and doing my job, which is to try to beat Sevilla. That’s the only thing in my head.”