"The essence of the game is clear. It is one of the most important matches for us. Even if we are behind in the score, we will do our best."
It was said by the head coach of Qarabag Gurban Gurbanov, Idman.biz reports.
The 52-year-old expert announced his opinion at the press conference dedicated to tomorrow's second leg of the Champions League play-offs with Zagreb Dinamo: "The team has not prepared badly. Our faith is great. We will try our best to win. We know the opponent. It is an ambitious team. It seems that they have more advantage than us. To get a good result tomorrow, every player must play the best game of his career. I expect the same from my players."
- If you lose this match, will you consider it as a personal tragedy?
- If we think of every defeat as a tragedy, it is not worth working in this job. In sports, the result is always a win, a loss and a draw. I have always been sure of one thing, that we have prepared responsibly for every match. If the result was not good, it was never because of our irresponsibility. Of course, we don't want to lose this game either.
- Who will be at the goal tomorrow? How are Veshovic and Jankovic doing?
- We will decide about the goalkeeper before the game. The situation in Vešović is not bad. He joined the training yesterday. Yankovic did not join the training sessions with the team.
- What did you think about Julio Romao's playing?
- We had doubts that he would not play. There was just one nuance in the regulation that needed to be fine-tuned. However, we wanted a written paper so that we would have exactly what to play.
- You may be forced to attack from the first minutes due to the difference between the scores. What kind of game tactics do you think about the attack tomorrow? Is there anything new about the transfer?
- In front of us is Dinamo Zagreb and they are ahead with the score of 3:0. Sometimes we can't get what we want when we have only courage. We must press, but it must be smart. We saw the opponent's counter-attacks on the trip. It is possible that the Croatians will play against us tomorrow in a way that we don't fully expect. We must be smart and brave. We have to improve what we do. As for the transfer, searches are underway. A player is currently needed. In the worst case, the players we have are not bad either.
- What match does the atmosphere of tomorrow's match remind you of in your 15-16-year Qarabag career?
- Well, I haven't thought about it. Maybe many did not expect us to lose 0:3. But football is at such a level that even strong opponents easily score 4-5 goals. However, in clubs like ours, such luck does not come often. When they got into the playoffs of the Champions League for the first time, they were talking about the anthem of the competition coming to Baku. They said, that is enough. Now we want groups. It is a responsibility. Earning the trust of the fans is very important. I try to make their wishes come true. That's the responsibility. I do not believe that there is no responsibility for any game. They say in every match that we expect victory from Qarabag. This chance does not happen every time. We want to make the most of this chance. We need to consider the opponent in front of us. It's always nice to play against such opponents.
- Last season, Dinamo won 3:1 against Sparta in the first match of the CL playoff stage, but lost 1:4 in the return game. In the 1/8 round of the Conference League, after defeating PAOK with a score of 2:0, the Greeks won 5:1 away. Did you pay attention to these details?
- I looked, I was interested. This team has experienced coaches and is a good team. It is a big club. Such results make them more responsible. They will be more responsible in this match.
- Not ready for penalties?
- We are ready. If the fans trust us and expect us to win, we are ready to play not only 90 minutes, but 120 minutes on the field. Penalties are for later. We would really like to have everything resolved in 90 minutes.
It should be noted that the match between Qarabag and Dinamo, which will be held at the Republic Stadium named after Tofig Bahramov, will start at 20:45.
Aytac Sahad
Idman.biz
