As featured on NewsNow: Football news

Sevilla coach Lopetegui: We need 5 weeks of preparation

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui feels his players will need five weeks of preparation before the season resumes.

Lopetegui says you cannot compare the coronavirus suspension to a winter break.

With respect to a return, Lopetegui declared that "what I can assure is this will be nothing like a return after a summer break. Neither the form nor the mind is going to be 20 percent of what it would be in a normal preseason."

The coached continued: "We are clear on that. I think when the circumstances allow, with the guarantees from the government, a period of adaption will be necessary to preserve the other part of the health, not just the virus. Don't forget that in the Primera and the Segunda, everyone imagines big houses, but it's not the majority.

"We are all humans, with concerns, there have been cases in teams. All that's going on is not removed from any profession and it affects the players.

"We will have to speak about preparation time but as a manager, I would see we will need a minimum of five weeks to be in a situation where we can play every three days in a setting that no one has experienced before, not just playing behind closed doors, but after everything this nightmare has provoked. We have to be in the best physical condition."

Video of the day:

Carlos Volcano
About the author

Carlos Volcano

×

Subscribe and go ad-free

For only $10 a year

  1. Go Ad-Free
  2. Faster site experience
  3. Support great writing
  4. Subscribe now
Launch Offer: 2 months free
×

Subscribe and go ad-free

For only $10 a year

Subscribe now
Launch Offer: 2 months free