Statements by Pellegrini
 
“We’ve seen a lot of Anderlecht’s matches; they always perform well with the ball and show a good attacking display.  They’ll be a tough team to beat on their home ground.”

“It’ll be a totally different match compared to Zenit.  They’re two very different teams.  That’s not to say we can’t win, but it won’t be like the match we played against Zenit.  I don’t think Málaga are group favourites, when we’re up against three champion teams who have a lot more experience in European competition than us.  We’ll compete as best we can, but I wouldn’t say we’re favourites.”
 
“It’s hard to know what the future holds, but we’re in a positive position at the moment, and continue to perform well.  However we have bad moments, as does every team.”
 
“This will be such an important match for us, as if we win it would mean we could decide our fate in the group stage with a home match.  However this doesn’t mean that if Anderlecht lose then they’re out.”


Statements by Santa Cruz
 
“Every match is different, and only afterwards can we analyse the result and our performance.  This is a difficult ground, but we’ll play the best football we can, and are all determined to win the three points.”
 
“We’re confident following our recent run of results, but playing an away match in the Champions League against a big rival, is going to be tough.  I wouldn’t say we’re group favourites, but we’re definitely optimistic that we can win this match.”
 
“Our main objective is to continue getting good results.  I scored a goal with Bayern and we won by 2-1.  It was the Champions play-off, and when I scored, I put the ball under my shirt!”