Sevilla will need to tighten up in defence if they are to successfully defend their Europa League crown, coach Unai Emery said after his side squeezed past Borussia Moenchengladbach into the last 16 on Thursday.
Sevilla will need to tighten up in defence if they are to successfully defend their Europa League crown, coach Unai Emery said after his side squeezed past Borussia Moenchengladbach into the last 16 on Thursday.
A 3-2 win for the Andalusians in Germany, thanks to two goals from Vitolo and a Carlos Bacca strike, was enough to secure a 4-2 aggregate success and claim a berth in the draw to be held later on Friday.
However, Emery said that while he had been pleased with Sevilla's pace going forward the fact they had conceded six goals in their last two outings was cause for concern.
Thursday's victory at Gladbach came after Sevilla were beaten 4-3 at Real Sociedad in La Liga last weekend.
"The satisfaction is contained," Emery told a news conference at the Borussia-Park stadium.
"We have to improve in defence. We have to reduce the number of goals conceded because the capacity to go forward is something we do have," he added.
"Our counter attack was one of our weapons today and we can do damage on the counter and that was the key to our victory."
Sevilla won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and 2007 before triumphing in Europe's second-tier club competition, renamed the Europa League, again last term.
They were joined in the last 16 by Ajax Amsterdam, Besiktas, Club Bruges, Dinamo Moscow, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Dynamo Kiev, Everton, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Napoli, AS Roma, Torino, Villarreal, VfL Wolfsburg and Zenit St Petersburg.
Sevilla have little time to rest on their laurels as they host champions Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
Emery's side are fifth in the standings with 14 matches left, five points behind fourth-placed Valencia and a point ahead of Villarreal in sixth.
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