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"They have my own respect and historic club in Europe. A few years ago they were playing in the semi-final of the Champions League and they were very close to playing in the final.

"They always are promoting a lot of young players. In the future, they are going to be very important players. The respect is because I think they are not being very consistent season this year, but I think they are probably getting better and of course for them to play here with their support at home tomorrow. I think they are going to show their best performance.

"We have to be consistent and being clear to get something important. The Premier League is 38 matches and we are now in the fourth position and of course, it is a very good opportunity to try to keep it.

"Now we are focusing like we did before in groups, on Europe because as well to play Europe for us is very important. Last year, we did a very big effort to play in the Conference League and we have to try to be consistent here and confident.

“I like to play in Europe and I am trying to to transmit to the players as well. Europe always is very, very difficult. I am very excited and motivated to achieve something here in Europe like I did before.

"But the most important is try to get as well prestige playing in Europe, play in different countries, different culture to play. I am playing in Europe 16 years in a row, but I never play here. For me as well it is being motivated to play here in the stadium and for myself it is very important in my career.

"I want to separate each competition. We are improving and we are taking experiences and important matches during the week before the groups and now we are going to start playing again.

"We have very important matches in the Premier League on Sunday and West Ham next Sunday. If we want to reach our level or increase our level, playing important games is very important to play matches that we are going to play in this week and in the next week.

“My routine with the players is always to be very respectful of the opponent and analysing myself the tactical idea or the tactical way they did and then show their players and try to prepare our game plan. This is the routine I have when we are facing each team.

"I like my job, I like to prepare and work out how we can develop. There are a lot of teams in Europe, some teams being better than us.

"That is the big challenges I had before and the big challenge I want to face again and sometimes as well how we can be motivated, be excited playing against some teams at the beginning and our performances worse than us and really to try to be competitive. This is the challenge I have every day and tomorrow for me to be here.

"And after that, it is a very excited moment. I don't know if we are going to be better than them, worse than them, but how we are going to compete against them and, and the experiences we have here in Europe in Conference this year and we were speaking with the players this morning.

"We were very excited playing before the groups that I said earlier and we played fantastic. We then lost the first match in the group. Even when you are playing against the better teams, you have to be very motivated, you have to be very competitive to try to beat the opponent.

"But when you are playing against the worst team, if you are thinking is going to be easy, they can beat you. And this is my experiences before and I want to use it."

Unai Emery, pre-match.


"You only have to look at their place in the Premier League - they are fourth - to know they are very strong.

"In a lot of ways, it's just a good team. They are defensively strong and have experience. In addition, they have speed and are dangerous when play restarts.

"They can be constructive but also very direct. We will have to play very focused. If we lose the ball in places where we are vulnerable, it can become very dangerous."

Ajax manager John van 't Schip pre-match.


“It was a bit surreal honestly, such an amazing stadium, an amazing atmosphere, a moment that I'll treasure for the rest of my life no doubt. Blessed to be given the opportunity to play here and hopefully I did enough.

“It's tough coming here. They're an iconic club, a massive club. We knew it was going to be difficult. We had to suffer at times. I think we defended really well as a team. We probably would have liked to be a bit more offensive and create more chances, but it's one of those games where, if you can't win, make sure you don't lose.

“Listen, it's not going to be easy, it's Ajax we're talking about here. They're a big club, they've got pedigree in Europe in big competitions so we know it's going to be difficult again. But we're also strong at home. We know we've got a group of players that can beat any team at home. So I think we'll go into that game with full confidence.”

Morgan Rogers post match.


“I wasn't really too nervous. It's my second start with the club, so I was really excited to go and play and prove to everyone what I can do. And just push for more opportunities, more starts, more minutes.

“It was a tough game. Ajax are a good team, they've got lots of history. So I think the fact that we came away with a clean sheet, that's a good point for us. And next week we’ll have the backing of our fans. We’re always strong at home.”

Tim Iroegbunam post match.


“It's only half-time (in the two-leg tie), and so we need to go there and cause a massive upset.”

Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson.