The Bayer Leverkusen manager has vowed to finish fifth this season to qualify for next term’s UEFA Europa League.
Robin Dutt has expressed his desire to finish this season on the fifth spot and book a place in next campaign’s UEFA Europa League. He was talking ahead of his side’s Bundesliga clash with Schalke on Saturday, March 24, at the
Veltins-Arena.
The manager stated that Werkself are determined to finish at least fifth on the table despite learning about Europa Leagues’ new qualification criteria for German clubs. It has been confirmed that a club finishing seventh in the
standings will also qualify for Europe which gives a further breathing space to the BayArena outfit.
The decision has been welcomed by Dutt but the manager has urged his players not to relax and maintain their focus to end the season on a high. He stressed on the importance of winning against the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Royal-95-c40387 Blues in order to extend
a one-point gap over sixth-placed Werder Bremen, who will be hosting relegation threatened FC Augsburg on the same day.
While talking to a sports website, sportinglife.com, the 47-year-old tactician further added: "We cannot just feel we can now take a deep breath. We should rather be thinking what do we have to do to secure fifth place."
On the other hand, the boss also conceded that Leverkusen have only a slim chance of making it to the next season’s UEFA Champions League. He specified that a ten-point gap over Schalke will be difficult to close in the coming
games and therefore the top four teams are in with a best chance of playing in Europe’s elite competition next term.
"We have got to recognise that the four teams above us have been better than us this year. We have got to perform well and, if we do that, we will finish fifth. We must not see seventh place as something to fall back on, or else
we will soon drop even lower," Dutt concluded.
Leverkusen are currently fifth in the league standings with 40 points and only four points separate them from ninth placed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/VfB-Stuttgart-c40879. With eight games remaining this season for Werkself, Dutt must ensure that his team grab
maximum points to achieve their goal.
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