"I congratulate our opponent. They achieved a significant victory and advanced to the playoffs. I wish them success in the next round," said Qarabag’s head coach, Gurban Gurbanov, after the match against Olympiakos.
Idman.biz reports that the experienced coach analyzed his team's 0:3 defeat in the last round of the Europa League: "There was a great atmosphere today. The game was very dynamic. It was important for me to see my players fight well, and I did. Unfortunately, football is a game built on mistakes. After technical errors, we conceded three goals. In any case, our journey in the Europa League had already ended. I believe that the matches this season provided us with valuable experience for the next campaign. Football in Europe is constantly evolving, and I think we gained a lot for next year. Regardless, I stand by my players. We’ve been through these stages in previous years, experiencing both successes and failures."
- Today, Qarabag finished last in the Europa League group stage and conceded the most goals. However, around this time last year, the team was close to reaching the quarterfinals. What went wrong this season?
- Football is a game where success is never guaranteed every year. Yes, we conceded many goals, and we must accept that our defense was weak. On the other hand, we faced very strong opponents. If you look at European competitions, you’ll rarely see narrow scorelines. Of course, last year, we performed better. Sometimes, you can’t implement what you planned on the field because the opponent is superior. We see our shortcomings and will do everything we can to fix them. Additionally, maintaining a team at the same level throughout the year is not easy. Football is a collective game, and to sustain a playing style, the individual quality of the players must remain high. Perhaps we had some issues in this regard as well. We now have time to analyze our games and identify our mistakes."
- You mentioned that your team fought well, but in the last two Europa League games, especially after Juninho's departure, the team's attacking problems became more evident. Do you plan to reinvest the funds from Juninho’s transfer to sign a striker worth 1-2 million euros?
- If I were to discuss this question in detail, it would take a long time. About Juninho, I can say he was a great player. I’ve always said that having more fit players makes my job easier. But let’s remember that we had already lost five out of six games while Juninho was still with us. There were also matches where we performed well even without certain players. Overall, if you analyze our performances, we did not play poorly.
- Now, if we’re talking about the five million we earned from Juninho’s sale, that money alone will not solve our problems. Compared to the teams we face annually, our overall budget places us at the lower end.
o From an outsider's perspective, it may seem that our attack is lacking or that we have issues in other positions. But before this, we weren’t selling players for five million, yet we built a high-quality team. Today, the team is still playing well; this was simply an unlucky year. We have been thinking for months about how to improve the squad. Unfortunately, there are challenges in this regard. However, we will do our best to make changes. Let’s see how things go—we hope to solve at least fifty percent of our problems."
For context, Qarabag lost 0:3 away to Olympiakos.
Idman.biz
