THE Panathinaikos won 2-1 against Botev Plovdiv in OAKA, in the first match between them for the second qualifying round of the Europa League and took a small qualifying lead.
After the match, the coach of the Bulgarians, Dusan Kerkez, appeared satisfied with the image of his team, especially in the second half, stressing that they have now increased their chances of qualifying against a quality opponent, as Alonso’s team characteristically mentioned.
Dusan Kerkez’s statements in detail:
“I’m not satisfied when I lose. But before the match, if they asked me, given the size of Panathinaikos, I would be happy that we are going back to Bulgaria with 2-1. Every little mistake in Europe, the opposing team can punish it. Those who saw the match can be satisfied. I didn’t like some things in the first half, I liked quite a bit in the second half of what we did. We have to be satisfied with how the match ended.
We were expecting another Panathinaikos. We expected pressure from the first minute. Maybe the fact that he didn’t, confused us. In the first half we made mistakes that brought two goals for the opponent.
We are more ready because we had three official matches. I like to play evenly against big teams. Panathinaikos has quality, roster, we are not a big favorite. We just have a better chance. We have to be smarter if we want to go through.”
Source: Sport Fm
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