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Glasner on staying positive, Eintracht experience and Shakhtar
TL;DR
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner discusses team readiness and strategy ahead of the Conference League semi-final against Shakhtar Donetsk. He emphasizes the importance of confidence and playing their style to succeed.
Key points
- Oliver Glasner speaks before the Conference League semi-final.
- Evann Guessand may return for the second leg.
- Glasner emphasizes confidence and playing their style.
Crystal PalaceShakhtar DonetskEintracht Frankfurt
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Conference League semi-final first leg tie against Shakhtar Donetsk at Synerise Arena (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
- On team news, Glasner said Evann Guessand is "progressing" with his recovery from injury and he could be available "for a few minutes" for the second leg.
- The Eagles boss was asked about how his side is feeling ahead of the semi-final and responded: "The team is fit. The team is looking forward. We have a good mood, a great atmosphere, and even when we lost at Liverpool, we took a lot of positives into this game."
- He added: "We always want to win every single game and that's what we want to do tomorrow as well."
- On his message to the players, he said: "Be yourself, play our style, express yourself, play with confidence, try to score goals, work very hard to avoid chances for the opposition, but the most important thing is play our style." He added that you can win and lose in sports but if his side don't show their identity they "can lose twice".
- The Austrian boss said his experience winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt helped him "learn as a manager".
- He added: "The European journey with Frankfurt and the similarities in togetherness and spirit and the great character of the team, that is maybe why we are playing a semi-final with Crystal Palace."
- On whether he believes his side can win the competition, he said: "At the end, you always get what you deserve. We have huge desire, we have the confidence and the belief that we can win against Shakhtar, but we always have huge respect for the way they play."
- On Shakhtar's main threat, Glasner said: "To be honest they have many threats. The strikers, the wingers, they always play inverted wingers. We don't know exactly because they're always rotating, but the midfielders are always attacking the box. Then they have very attacking full-backs. The style is very important."
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Q&A
What did Oliver Glasner say about Evann Guessand's injury recovery?
Oliver Glasner mentioned that Evann Guessand is progressing with his recovery and could be available for a few minutes in the second leg.
How does Glasner feel about his team's chances against Shakhtar Donetsk?
Glasner expressed confidence in his team's ability to win, stating they have huge desire and respect for Shakhtar's playing style.
What experience does Glasner draw from to prepare for the semi-final?
Glasner draws on his experience winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt, which he believes has helped him as a manager.
