Paulo Sousa told Fiorentina to repeat their Europa League performance against Lech Poznan, but “this time convert more chances.”
The Viola have a strange European record this season, winning 4-0 away to Belenenses, yet losing at home to both Basel and Lech Poznan.
“The fact Lech changed their Coach ahead of the last game was strange for us, but we also studied Jan Urban for what he did in the past,” said Sousa in his Press conference.
Paulo Sousa told Fiorentina to repeat their Europa League performance against Lech Poznan, but “this time convert more chances.”
The Viola have a strange European record this season, winning 4-0 away to Belenenses, yet losing at home to both Basel and Lech Poznan.
“The fact Lech changed their Coach ahead of the last game was strange for us, but we also studied Jan Urban for what he did in the past,” said Sousa in his Press conference.
“A change of management gave them a boost and that was not surprising. I tried from the start to demand the maximum effort from my players in every game, as there’s no other way to win. We have the quality and the belief too.
“At times we have had less intensity and also luck, for example against Basel, but with Lech we dominated the match without scoring. This caused us some problems in terms of qualification, but we are trying to work on this. I am sure we’ll see more chances converted as of tomorrow.
“I want to see the same team as always with the same principles. Every opponent creates different difficulties, but we must improve our decision-making on the field.
“Tomorrow I want a side that is intense from the first minute, creating many scoring opportunities, but this time converting more of them into goals.
“Lech defended well last time, but tomorrow they’ll have to play better than they did at the Stadio Franchi, because we dominated without taking all the chances we created.”
Sousa was asked whether Fiorentina put considerably more effort and focus into Serie A than the Europa League.
“The priority is to defend the Viola jersey. We play every game to win and that is the best recognition we can show to the passion of the fans.”
The Coach confirmed he left Jakub Blaszczykowski out recently “for tactical reasons, not physical ones.”