Yesterday, in the second leg of the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round, “Sabah” lost 0:2 at home to “Levski” (first leg 0:1), ending their European campaign.
According to Idman.biz, former Azerbaijani national team midfielder and renowned football expert Aslan Karimov commented on the game to Fanat.Az.
He noted that it became difficult for “Sabah” to make a comeback after conceding the first goal: “Before the match, I said that ‘Sabah’ would have scoring opportunities in the second game against ‘Levski.’ However, the guest team’s wingers were very fast, so our wingers could not succeed in one-on-one situations. The opponent didn’t allow our wide attackers to do anything. After conceding the first goal, a comeback became difficult. In the first half, ‘Sabah’ completely lost the midfield battle. Valdas Dambrauskas decided to play with five defenders. When our full-backs tried to step up and intercept the ball, the opposition immediately played long passes behind them. Our third center-back was afraid to cover the flank because he knew another opponent would open up from the middle. In one such first-half episode, Steve Solvet was late and received a yellow card. That was one of ‘Sabah’s main problems before halftime.
“Even though we switched formation in the second half, the visitors gradually gained control of the midfield again, making defeat inevitable. Sometimes we got the ball, but they still dominated that zone.
“Some points need to be revisited. The playmaker position in ‘Sabah’ remains a question. True, they played in a system that doesn’t fully utilize a central distributor, but there is still a need for such a player.”
Idman.biz
