Statements at the press conference ahead of Panathinaikos’ rematch with Botev Plovdiv for the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League, the coach of the Bulgarian team did, Dushan Kerkez.
After singing the praises of the “greens”, characterizing once again the favorite for qualification, he emphasized that his team has its chances and must believe.
In detail what Botev’s coach said:
What his team should pay more attention to than Panathinaikos: “What I know is that Panathinaikos has very good players. I respect him as a team, as a whole, for his story. They are at a very good level and I understand that they will bring other players as well. They can change the flow of the match with one move. We have to be completely focused and not give them too much space. Many times you may be well prepared, but it is not enough. With one goal we can send the match to extra time, so we have to manage it properly from the first to the last minute”.
On the atmosphere in Botev’s classes: “We are definitely calm. We didn’t have much time to think, we have a very big match ahead of us. For me family is above all. And the team for me is a family, I spend more time with the children than with my own people. I might have been more emotional after the recent match, but we are Balkans. And first of all, we are human. People who have a public voice have a lot of responsibility and what happened recently can happen to anyone. I had to stand in front of my player, protect him”.
On whether he still thinks that Panathinaikos is the favorite: “I still believe that Panathinaikos is the favorite. We have a chance, we have to believe it. However, in order to eliminate Panathinaikos, we all have to be at our best, the coaches, the players and the crowd”.
For the ideal, for that scenario, for the match against Panathinaikos: “The ideal scenario is to win by two goals. We have to be calm, focused and give it our all. We are playing against a very good team, we have to respect them. We welcome them, we want them to speak well of Bulgaria, of Plovdiv, of our team. After the end of the match, however, I want us to have qualified”.
Source: Sport Fm
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