The coach of Ludogorets Zahari Sirakov stated that the team's goal is to continue after the main phase of the Europa League. “There is always excitement before a game. It is gratifying that we will play in the main phase of the Europa League against serious teams. The important thing is to perform well," began Sirakov. "We will face eight different opponents. The good thing is that we will start with a household. I hope we start with a good result. We are familiar with the composition of Slavia Prague. We are facing a very aggressive, tall team. We have to be careful with their strengths and counter them as best we can. We have an idea how that will happen," he added. "We have some ideas for January, they are not 100% agreed," Sirakov said of the Europa League schedule, which sees Ludogorets play the last two games of the main phase at the end of January.
"I myself am quite an ambitious coach, as are the owners of Ludogorets. The goal is if we can continue after the main phase", added the mentor. "We meet different opponents. Such is the lot, and we agree with what has fallen to us. We focus on match by match. Now we have a European match ahead of us. Then we have the domestic championship game. My desire is to win more than 9 points, but all opponents are difficult," he said regarding the calculations that 9 points will be enough for Ludogorets to play at least a playoff to the 1/8-finals in the Europa League. "The most important thing is to start with a positive result against Slavia Praha, which will give us additional self-confidence for the next matches," concluded the coach of Razgrad.
The experienced midfielder of Ludogorets Ivaylo Chochev revealed what his expectations are from the match with Slavia Prague. "I think we have a very tough game ahead of us against a pretty good team. The coaches introduced us to their style of play. A very serious match awaits us against good performers. If we enter concentrated, we can achieve a good result", began Chochev.
"It is important to start with a positive result because after that there will be peace. We must fulfill all that is required of us. Slavia Prague is a team that likes to play direct football. In attack, they have players who manage to keep the ball. A very dangerous team," added Chochev.