CSKA will begin its participation in the main phase of the Conference League tournament with a host of the French Monaco. The match at the National Stadium “Vasil Levski“ is at 19:45, and over 20,000 Sofia fans are expected in the stands.
“The Reds“ started the “Marcus Gizdol“ era with a dramatic 3:2 win over CSKA 1948 in Bistritsa. After a great first half, in which they could have led by more than two goals, after the break the “Reds“ allowed a partial turnaround before captain Bruno Jordao scored the decisive winning goal after a long-range cannon shot.
CSKA went to the third strongest European tournament after losing the play-off for entering the Europa League to the Greek OFI Crete. Before that, the team eliminated Qarabag and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Gizdol was categorical in his pre-match press conference that the match starts at 0:0 and although Monaco is the favorite, his team will give its maximum.
„I think this is a big challenge. We will face one of the main teams in Europe. I know what quality they achieve. The match will be difficult, but we know our chances and we are looking forward to the match“, shared the German specialist, for whom this will be his home debut at the helm of the “army“, as well as one in Europe.
However, he will not be able to rely on the team's best defender Jean-Philippe Gbamen, who was unable to recover for the match. Due to the injury, he also missed the away match against CSKA 1948.
It is curious to note that Monaco has lost all three of its visits to Bulgaria.
The team from the Principality started very strongly this season in the French Ligue 1, where after six rounds it is at the top with 14 points. One of the victories was more than impressive – 2:1 away against the champion and European club champion Paris Saint-Germain.