First Team 23 Aug 2025

Alessio Lisci: "The team is improving and moving forward"

Osasuna coach Alessio Lisci spoke Saturday ahead of Sunday’s match against Valencia at El Sadar. Kick off is set for 5 p.m. CET (4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET).

“The team is doing very well. I think we came out stronger in many aspects of the match at the Bernabéu. Emotionally, the players are happy and motivated, and physically they are all in good shape,” Lisci said. He added that he has asked his players “to be a team that wants to do more compared to the Bernabéu.”

The Italian coach acknowledged the difficulty of the last match but stressed the need to keep progressing. “(Tuesday's match) was a very tough, very different match, and the team did what was asked. Of course, more could have been done, but they gave what they could—there’s also the opponent to consider. This week, it’s about improving on last week, keeping on moving forward, and growing as the competition moves forward. Truth is, we trained very little, no heavy sessions since it was a four-day week, but the team is in good shape and has enough ideas to play a really good game."

On Valencia, Lisci expects a tough challenge. “They will be aggressive, as usual, wanting to dominate and keen to get points away from home - more than they did last year. They can do it; they’ve got a great squad for it. So I expect a head-to-head game, split at times, with moments for both teams,” he said.

“I know nobody underestimates Valencia. In the last four years here at home, we’ve only managed one draw and never a win against them. They’ve made some important signings by La Liga standards, bringing in quality players. That’s a statement of intent that they’re returning to being the Valencia everyone knows. We must be very careful because they are very well coached, and it will be a very difficult match.”

"The fact that it’s my home debut isn’t important compared to the club"

On making his debut at El Sadar, Lisci downplayed the personal significance. “What I want is for us to play a very good game, as I always do, at home or away. That’s what brings us closer to winning,” he said. “The fact that it’s my home debut isn’t important compared to the club. This is about Osasuna, not me. We can’t be selfish. My debut is secondary — what matters is that the squad gives its best performance.”

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