The head coach of the Kazakh Kairat Almaty Rafael Urazbakhtin paid a serious compliment to the Bulgarian champion Levski Sofia before tomorrow's second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League [sportal.bg]. The specialist's specific statement emphasizes the high class in the selection of the “blues“, who will defend a fragile but extremely valuable lead in the city of Turkestan [sportal.bg; focus-news.net].
Respect to the selection of the “blues“
During his official press conference at the stadium “Turkestan Arena“, Urazbakhtin demonstrated enormous respect for the squad led by Spanish manager Julio Velasquez [bgdnes.bg; gong.bg]. The Kazakh coach was frank with the media: “Every Levski player could strengthen our team“ [sportal.bg].
Kairat's coach added that despite the minimal defeat with 0:1 in the first match in Sofia, his team has not lost faith in the final victory, but realizes the gravity of the task [sportal.bg; 24chasa.bg]. We recall that in the first match at the “Georgi Asparuhov“ stadium, the Bulgarian champion won the victory with a dramatic goal in added time [topsport.bg; focus-news.net].
The tactical overtaking and the conditions in Kazakhstan
The home team is aware that Levski has an extremely balanced squad, with the new additions quickly becoming key players [bta.bg]. For his part, Julio Velasquez shared in the hours before the clash that his team is ready for absolutely every possible tactical scenario from Kairat - from a deep press to a closed game in a low block [bgdnes.bg].
The capricious weather will also be a serious factor in the match. The match is expected to be played in extremely high temperatures of around 36 degrees Celsius [bgdnes.bg]. However, the executive director of the capital's giants, Daniel Borimirov, assured that the “blues“ arrived earlier in Kazakhstan precisely in order to acclimatize to the heat more quickly [bta.bg].
The return match between Kairat and Levski will be held on Tuesday, August 11, at 18:00 Bulgarian time and will be led by the elite German referee Daniel Siebert [focus-news.net; bta.bg].