Interview of Georgi Nikolov, former president of "Inter" (now "Shamakhi"), to Report news agency.
The match in Bulgaria ended with the home team winning 1-0. What can you say about the game?
To be honest, I didn’t watch the game. Later I saw the score and followed the summary. I think it was an evenly matched game. Both teams showed high-level football. After 70 minutes, "Sabah" got tired and the pace slowed down a lot. I think "Levski" took advantage of that and scored. I believe the result is quite fair.
Can "Sabah" qualify in the return leg in Baku?
Of course, they can. "Levski" should properly assess this team. "Sabah" is a serious opponent, anything can happen in the second match. But I think the Bulgarian team will go further in European competitions. That’s my prediction.
Do you follow Azerbaijani football?
I can’t watch many championship matches, but I’m aware of "Qarabag’s" results in European competitions.
"Qarabag" may face your country’s other representative "Ludogorets" in the Champions League playoff round.
Yes. They also faced each other last season. If I’m not mistaken, "Ludogorets" won in Baku. Then here, in front of my eyes, they lost by a big margin, 7:2. So if both advance to the playoffs, it will be an interesting duel. I guess "Ludogorets" will want revenge. But I must say, compared to last season, the Azerbaijani champion is a bit weaker now. So I can’t predict the outcome of a possible match, but I can say "Qarabag" is stronger.
How would you compare Azerbaijani and Bulgarian football? Which has shown more progress recently?
The football in these countries is very similar. Probably physical struggle is more emphasized in Azerbaijan. Also, good technically skilled players come to Azerbaijan, and you have good local players as well. So I think both are close to each other. Bulgarian football is not going through its best period now. The Azerbaijani national team’s recent results are also not very good.
The foreign player limit has been abolished in the Azerbaijan Premier League. Would you like to comment on this?
When I worked in your country, there were some changes as well. But I didn’t see any significant progress in results. There were good results when there was no limit on foreign players. I also know that "Qarabag" reached the Champions League group stage when the foreign player limit was introduced. Now, I can’t say whether abolishing the limit will benefit or harm Azerbaijani football. I hope the foreign players coming to your country in the future will be of high quality, and Azerbaijani players will show themselves and get their chance.
Idman.biz
