Bielsa on what play-off glory would mean to Leeds; confirms team news

Marcelo Bielsa claims he is extremely motivated to help Leeds secure promotion to the Premier League – and hopes his own past struggles in finals don’t hinder United.

The Argentine takes his battle-weary troops into Saturday’s play-off semi-final first leg clash against Derby at Pride Park knowing Leeds have it all to do again – after chucking away, in many people’s eyes – an automatic promotion place.

Bielsa, however, insists getting promoted is the only thing that matters as he outlined how he had prepared his players.

“This event is a episode which everyone wants to live. Both semi-finals are going to be very attractive and the final at Wembley will be a spectacle,” he said. “The team who wins gets promoted and you can’t have a bigger goal than this.

“The motivation to face this challenge comes by itself. Preparation is a second aspect.”

Leeds and Derby have a history this season due to the Spygate allegations which eventually resulted in the Yorkshire club being fined £200,000 by the EFL.

Asked if these events could give Derby extra motivation, he replied: “It’s possible.”

Bielsa says he has seen this situation in several tournaments over the years – Copa America, Copa Libertadores, Olympics, UEFA Cup – to name but a few, but has, in the most part, finished second best.

“What I can tell you is I lost all the finals – apart from the final of the Olympics,” he said.

Bielsa, however, insists he knows the importance of promotion to the club, its fans the city and continued: “I always think that the salaries we earn are obscene or exaggerated.

“Sometimes I think they’re not important enough when we think about the responsibility we have on our shoulders. We’re bearing the hope of many people.”

He added: “We always earn a lot of money and when we think about the impact our jobs have on the hopes of humble people.

“It’s harder for poor people to have access to another kind of happiness than football or have opportunities to feel proud of things like they do about their club.”

He added: “We are full of hope, we hope we are going to reach our goal and we dream of this. When you feel like that you feel safe and that’s how we feel. We’re longing to face this new opportunity.”