Ibanez encouraged by growing team spirit

The Giallorossi face the Portuguese side away from home in the first leg of the tie, with kick-off scheduled for 18:55 CET.

After the weekend win over Udinese, Ibanez believes the side are building momentum at a key point in the season.

"We are in a really good moment, we have the right attitude to go and play well in every competition," Ibanez said.

"There's a good spirit within the group and we want to keep working on that to make it even better."

Asked if it would be difficult for the side to motivate themselves for the tie, the Brazilian defender dismissed the suggestion.

"It's true that the Europa League is not the Champions League, but it is still a really important competition, where a lot of great teams are competing," he said.

"That's one reason we need to make sure we are fully focused against whoever we come up against, so we can try to go as far as possible in the competition."