David Luiz: "Forget the last game and think about the future"

David Luiz spoke to the media after Chelsea‘s disappointing defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. He seemed keen to put the past behind the side (despite what has happened to their season) to concentrate on the future, and believed that by winning the Europa League and finishing inside the top four, it would be a successful season. He said:

“There has been difficult competition and this season we wanted to win everything. Now we cannot win the league but we can still stay in a good position and win another European title. That is what we will work for.

“If we win the Europa League and get to play the Champions League next year, of course it’s a success. There are some big teams in Europe who won’t be winning titles this year, for sure, so of course it would be a success.

“What happened against City is disappointing but we can still take positive things from the game. I thought we did many, many positive things on the pitch. But when you play for a big club, you need to forget the last game and think about the future.

“We’re professionals and do our best to prepare for the games as best we can but, after a match, it’s normal that we feel a little bit more tired than the other team. It’s difficult but now it’s the last month and the best games are coming along.

“We’ve played one semi-final, now we’re going to play the Europa League semi-final. We’re fighting for third place and to get into the Champions League. Now we need to be focused. We need to win matches and it doesn’t matter the way to do it.

“At the end of the season we will look at the whole balance of the season but now it’s one month of competition and it’s important to be focused. We’ve wanted to win trophies from the start of the season, all of them, and now the only one we can win is the Europa League. We’ll try and do that. But reaching the Champions League is also massive for us for next season.”

He makes a good point. There are plenty of other big European teams that will not have any form of success this term. By finishing in the top four, Chelsea would have improved upon last season and the football club will see that has a positive.

There are some positives that have come out of our season, and to win the Europa League would be a massive bonus. The important thing for Chelsea, starting tonight, is the Premier League, and it’s all well and good talking about it, but the players have to get out there tonight and get the three points.