The senior coach of Ludogorets Zahari Sirakov demonstrated optimism before the first match with Petrocub from the Europa League playoffs.
"We watched several matches of the Moldovans. A team that likes to play football, to control the ball. After this match with Qarabag we tried to lift the boys emotionally. We kind of succeeded. You could see in the first half of the match with Levski that there was some tension in the players. This match gives us extra confidence for the upcoming match. The team is training super well at the moment. I think everything will be fine," said Sirakov.
"I also thanked the management after the match with Levski. Here I will make my debut in an international match. I hope it is successful. I wouldn't say there's tension with me. And as a competitor I have played a lot of derbies and tough matches. Now as a coach, yes I am on a different level, but I am very calm knowing that I have very good players. It's an honor for any coach to lead these guys,” he said.
"My style has always been to control the ball, to play aggressively forward, to react immediately when losing the ball, to dominate all the time on the pitch, which goes to a club like Ludogorets. The domestic championship is one thing, but the European tournaments are a whole other level. It's a pleasure for me and I'm looking forward to the upcoming match. Moldovans play very compactly. They have a similar system as Levski with 5 defenders, 3 in the middle and 2 forwards, but they don't play as directly as Levski. We have analyzed them well. We hope our team can do it in a perfect way and get a good lead before the second leg. There are no weak teams in the European tournaments anymore," said the coach of Ludogorets.
He was also asked if he had any hope of remaining as a permanent coach if he qualified for the Europa League. "Everyone has some hopes, but as soon as I took this post, the leadership of Ludogorets explained to me what the situation was. I'm here to give my best because I've always been a maximalist. We are preparing match by match," he added.
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