"We are here because we deserve it, because we did things right"

Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic said on Tuesday that "we have to play the perfect game" if they want to win Wednesday's Europa League final against Roma in Budapest, who he described as "a great team" against whom they will try to "do it normally, like any other day" without putting pressure on themselves because of the importance of the match.

Rakitic, who won the Europa League with Sevilla during Unai Emery's time as coach in 2014, appeared in the Puskas Arena press room before training the day before and said that this final "is a spectacle, something unique".

"All of us who carry Sevilla in our hearts know what this means. There's nothing greater than bringing the cup to our city and with our people", said the Croatian, who stressed that "from the very first game we've seen what the coach -Jose Luis Mendilibar- wants and that's not going to change".

"We are here because we deserve it, because we did things right. Nobody gives anyone away. In those games - in reference to the knockout stages against Manchester United and Juventus - we were the better team and we have to be ourselves, play the perfect game. When we say that 'nobody wants it like us' it's not because some clever person said it, but because we think so," he stressed.

 

May 31, 2023