In the afternoon, a joint press conference was held at Kashima Stadium, with Antlers' Manager Go Oiwa and Kento Misao, and Sevilla's Manager Eduardo Berizzo and Sergio Escudero in attendance.
Manager Go Oiwa: "First, to the staff and players of Sevilla FC, and to Manager Berizzo and all involved, thank you for coming to Kashima. I am also grateful to the J-League for giving us the opportunity to play against Sevilla FC, a strong club from Spain. It's rare to have the chance to play against such a strong opponent, so I want us to play a good game and finish with a victory. We want to prepare well and go into tomorrow's match. Rather than their defense, I anticipate that both fullbacks will play high up and aggressively in attack. The two center-backs have experience, technique, and strength. How our forwards will play against them, how they will get behind them and exploit space, I think that will be a key point. The J-League is currently in a break, and the match against Sevilla FC is one of the matches during this period. The training is both preparation for the second half of the season and preparation for tomorrow's match."
Kento Misao: "It's rare to have the chance to play against such a strong team. I want to make the most of this opportunity, give everything we have, win decisively, and build on this for the future."
Manager Eduardo Berizzo: "Hello everyone. Thank you for the welcoming words from Manager Oiwa. I am very happy to be in Japan. It is an honor to be able to play against a team with such great popularity in the J-League. We are preparing for next season's La Liga. We were able to play at a good rhythm against Cerezo Osaka. I hope everyone enjoys tomorrow's match as well. I am grateful for the warm welcome we have received in Japan. Thank you. Our first goal is to establish the team's playing style. After that, we aim to win every match we play. I believe that if we establish our playing style and then play, victories will naturally follow. Inevitably, I think we will be able to earn a good position in the standings. I watched the Club World Cup final. My impression was that Antlers is a team that plays very dynamic and speedy football, a team that pushed Real Madrid to the brink. We want to stick to our style against Antlers. The situations we are both in are different, so I think it will be very difficult to maintain our rhythm throughout the match, but we will aim for that. Nolito joined the team three days ago. I've worked with him at Celta, but he's not yet in a condition to play, so I don't intend to use him tomorrow. I consider him a very capable attacking option. He can disrupt the opponent's balance and is very strong in one-on-one situations. I expect him to perform well."
Sergio Escudero: "Thank you for the welcome. I am happy to be able to play against Antlers, a strong team in the J-League. I think tomorrow's match will be a very good opportunity for us to improve our performance and for everyone to enjoy a good game."
After the press conference, Sevilla held their pre-match practice at Kashima Stadium. Only the first 15 minutes were open to the media.
