Melbourne City Captain, Aziz Behich, is relishing the challenge of a ‘finals-like’ match-up with Sydney FC in front of the City fans on Saturday evening.
It’s a match with huge stakes for both sides, as City host Sydney this Saturday 3 May at AAMI Park in the team’s final regular season fixture of the season. Get your tickets here.
Ahead of the fixture, Behich spoke to the media. Read his pre-match thoughts below…
IT’S IN OUR HANDS
“We’ve put ourselves in this position, I think, from being consistent throughout the whole season so everything’s in our hands.
“The boys are really excited, it’s been a good week of training and final session coming up this morning. So yeah, look, we’re all excited and ready to get going.”
CHARACTER OF THE GROUP
“Yeah, definitely. I think we’ve had a few games like that. You know, I think the Wanderers game was exactly a finals football game as well, away from home, full stadium, all against you and then coming back from behind. So it shows, the character we have within the squad. And, you know, going into this week, we’re not focused on the opposition, it’s been all about us the whole week and how we can improve from last week.
“I think we put in a good performance, but just not hit the back of the net. So that’s something, you know, we want to do this weekend and we’re going out there to get all three points.”
DEFENSIVE PARTNER
“To be honest, I didn’t know much about Kai [Trewin], before he came here and I can only speak very highly, first of all, as a person, and second of all, I think he’s a great player and that he’s only going to get better with age.
“He’s done really well. You know, his work ethic, every single day. You know, he wants to improve. He wants to learn. He wants the best from himself and also he does what he needs to do for the team. You know, he puts the team first. And, you know, that’s the type of players we want at this club.
“Like I said, I can only speak highly of him as a person and as a player. And, you know, we’re lucky to have someone like him around the club.”
RELISHING THE CHALLENGE
“I think that throughout my whole career, I tend to not look at the name on the back of the shirt, you know, I’ve got to just focus on, obviously doing my part for the team and what the staff has set out for me, tactic wise.
“But then obviously you have your one-on-one battles and look, it’s always nice to be up for a challenge. They’ve got world-class players in the squad, but, you know, so do we, so it’s going to take a team effort to get over the line tomorrow. But yeah, we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“As a footballer, these are the games you want to be a part of – high stakes against good opposition. And we’re at home as well in front of our home fans. So, yeah just excited to be honest with you and, yeah, just really looking forward to the game.”
Fixture Details
A-League Men: Round 29
Melbourne City FC v Sydney FC
Saturday 3 May, 7:35pm KO
AAMI Park
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