David Raya sat down in front of the media at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Monday night for his pre-Sporting Lisbon press conference.
Here's everything he had to say on the following subjects.
on playing in front of a changing back four:
I don’t think it has affected me in any way. We had some injuries but we have a great squad and anyone in those positions we rely on to give 100 percent.
on whether he feels more settled now:
I think it’s a matter of adaptation. Everything has a process. At the start of last season there was a big debate about everything and a lot of noise outside, but from January this year I think it’s changed completely. I was more confident and after the summer I felt I was in the right place.
on whether he really arrived on the night of the penalty shootout against Porto:
It was a nice moment to save two penalties and get through to the next round. That’s a great memory to have in my mind because for many years we hadn’t gotten through to the quarter-finals.
on whether Mikel Arteta has worked on his body language and presence:
I think it’s something that you work on. You adapt to the circumstances and a new environment and that takes a process, but the group of players and staff make it much easier. It was just a matter of time that I was going to show what type of goalie I was.
on what it’s like to start the season so well:
It’s nice but it’s in the past now. It’s gone and it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re here now, we think in the present, focus on tomorrow and try to help the team as much as possible with good performances. We learn from the good things and bad things.
on how much of it is down to confidence:
I would say it’s hard work. I try to work as hard as possible every day in training and back myself so I would put it down to that.
on Sporting’s form this season:
We know what to expect. They are a really good team scoring a lot of goals, but we’re here to win the game and get the three points.
on their new manager:
Of course we know about it. They’re very similar and trying to do the same things, but we respect it’s a new manager.
on whether he wants to be in the conversation of the best goalkeeper in the world:
Well I have different aspirations but that’s a conversation for you guys to have. Of course it’s nice to be there but I just want to play football, be the best professional I can and be better tomorrow and the day after.
on what he needs to do to get there:
Time will tell.
on facing Gyokeres:
We know about his strengths, how he runs in behind and scores a lot of goals one v one. We’re going to try to keep him very quiet tomorrow. Hopefully we can do a great job and keep a clean sheet.
on the motivation to prove himself against the best:
It’s motivation for everyone to keep a clean sheet because if you do that you have a better chance to win the game. All 11 players are behind that.
on whether we will have more respect for them after the previous meetings:
We know it’s a tough opponent in good form in all competitions. They score a lot of goals but we’re focused on ourselves to play the football we want to play and to make it very difficult for them to create chances and to win the game.
on whether he is enjoying the new format:
I only had one season in the Champions League last season and this season is a bit different, but every game is important in this competition and we want to get as many points as we can to qualify straight away and have less games to play. We’re really happy to be here.
on how important it is to avoid the extra two games:
It’s going to be important. If you don’t get through to the next round straight away that’s two more games to play.
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