Pellegrini
 
“We’re playing for three very important points following two League defeats against Deportivo and Barcelona.  The top of the table is very tight and we want to maintain our European positions.”
 
“Celta is a team that plays good football.  They concentrate on possession, though they haven’t had very good luck in away games.  They always try and impose their style of play from the start.”

“It’s different starting off a competition following a long period of time off, compared to the performance level of the team at the moment.  We’ve played a lot of matches in recent weeks and have performed well, which has given us a lot more confidence as the first round of the League has gone on.  However nothing is guaranteed in football, but I don’t think we’re at our optimum fitness as we prepare for Saturday’s match against Celta.  We need to win this game regardless, and it will completely depend on our performance on the pitch.”

“Lucas Piazon is a young player from Chelsea, who was getting a bit swamped by the quantity of players they have on the squad.  We’ve seen him play and know how well he can adapt to a team.  He’s not in tomorrow’s line-up, firstly as he didn’t get here in time, and secondly he’s only been training with the team for a day, as he arrived when we were in Barcelona.  Once he gets used to the team, I think he’ll be an important player.”