Xavi Pascual: "Hopefully we will recover well for the final"
Zenit head coach Xavi Pascual commented on the victory over Lokomotiv Kuban (94:75) and shared his impressions of the blue-whites reaching the VTB United League finals.
— Today I want to start a little bit different, congratulating my players for the game today and also for all the playoffs. Second, to congratulate my staff, to keep the balance all the time and to work hard to prepare every game. All the fans of Zenit and especially all the supporters, hat today helped us a lot. We are waiting all of them for the final to have such huge help from all the crowd. To congratulate especially all the players of Loko for the great job that they did during the series. And one more time to talk about my players, how mentally they recovered, it was not easy. This win doesn't cover the reality of what happened in Game 4 and Game 6. We felt totally unrespectful for what happened in both games. In more than 20 years professional I never saw something like that. We are very happy with this win. Hopefully we will recover well for the final.
— Can we say that winning the seventh match of the semifinals will help you emotionally at the start of the final series?
— No, now this is one book that both teams after semifinals we close the book and we will open another book that is the final. And the final will start 0-0. We have the home advantage, but nothing else. We will start on Tuesday over here. Both teams will start with zero. They had more time to recover well and to prepare. We had big battles until the last game, but emotionally both teams are going to be ready.
— How do you motivate players and talk to them individually or as a group?
— Ok, before this game I talked individually with all the players. Before some games we make in groups, sometimes individual. Before this game we had individual conversations with all of them to prepare mentally for the game that they will have. And one more time I have to congratulate them because they were very good.
— Representatives of the Zenit football club team attended the game today. How important is their support to you?
— We have a very good relation, also Saturday I’m going try attend their game. We like each other all the group and they are amazing, they are super professionals and excellent winners. I wish all the best on Saturday to all of them. And for sure I'm very grateful for the support that they give to us today.
