“We will be playing against a team that won both matches in the previous round. Everyone expected FCSB to win, but the opposite happened. Shkendija won both games,” said Qarabag’s head coach Gurban Gurbanov ahead of their trip to North Macedonia, İdman.biz reports.
The experienced coach stated that overall, they will be playing against a team that came out victorious in both legs: “Everyone thought that Steaua would win, but the exact opposite happened, Shkendija won both games. First, we tried to improve our own preparations. Our goal was to get the players into proper shape, and we managed that to some extent.
As for the game, we’ll be facing a very motivated and eager team. We need to consider that this is already the third qualifying round, so we must be extremely focused. The opponent is a team with character. After the first leg, things might get a bit easier for us as we’ll know them better. We’ll try our best to put on a good performance.”
The coach also emphasized that Shkendija eliminating Steaua in the second qualifying round wasn’t a surprise for him: “Every team in this tournament is a champion of its country. All teams are trying to achieve the best result possible. We’ve seen many times that teams no one expects to win manage to do so. We’re in this business, so we’re always prepared for such outcomes.”
Gurbanov also commented on when newly signed midfielder Joni Montiel will be ready: “He’s not fully fit yet. He’s a bit behind in terms of preparation. It will take at least two weeks, around 15–20 days, to get him into proper condition.”
For reference, the match will take place on August 5 at the Tose Proeski National Arena in Skopje and will kick off at 22:00 Baku time.
Idman.biz
