Levski's head coach - Julio Velasquez gave his traditional briefing before the away match against Dunav Ruse on Saturday - October 30.
„We have to be careful when we answer, but also when we ask. We have to have a criterion. We cannot come from the moment we beat „Victoria“ (Pilsen) and think that we are „Real“ (Madrid), and then by drawing with „Arda“ be at the other extreme. I am proud of the boys, the club is going through a good period. We are working to reach the level of the fans. Questions like this we have to forget. There must be positivity in the analysis of things“, Velasquez began.
“It is not common to have 6 consecutive away games. But what happened is that thanks to the work of the boys we are in the European club tournaments. This led to us playing outside Sofia for the Cup, playing in Europe. It is not common, but we accept it in the most normal way. It is the first time it has happened to me, but this is a different experience for me“, the Spaniard continued.
“Naturally we analyzed them. We have concentrated on analyzing their last matches with the new coach. The main focus is us. We are the ones who have to enter the match well. We have to have the right capacity to find different ways to overcome the opponent. "Field, fans, there are different circumstances," Velasquez also said.
„My focus is on „Dunav“. However, they told me about the draw. It is what it is. The good thing is that we will play at home. But we will think about that when the time comes. It is extremely good that we are at home, because the passion of our fans is incredible. We have many matches before that“, Velasquez commented on the draw for the Bulgarian Cup.
„Akram's situation is very good, but I am not sure if you know about this incident. Monday he had a difficult morning, he had a fever and we decided that he could travel and help if necessary. In the end, he did not play. He managed to train, to take part with the team. He is not 100 percent, but he has improved significantly. I haven't decided on the starting 11 yet, but he is certainly an option for the group and for a starter“, the Spaniard also said.
“Mitkov is more or less training with the team, but he has some discomfort. Gasper is in perfect condition. Radi Kirilov underwent surgery yesterday morning. I spoke to him twice yesterday during the day. He called me after the surgery was completed. Then we spoke again. However, he is positive. These are things that happen in football. At this moment I am irritated from the point of view of the fact that Kirilov is one of the best people you know in the world. There were good and bad moments during the recovery process, but I hope that this operation will be the last. It is planned that in about a month and a half he will be in line to train with the team, but it is absurd to talk about dates“, Velasquez commented on the condition of the injured players.
“I understand your questions. I have to be very objective when I do my analysis. What this group does is beyond what we could have imagined. As I tell you many times, if we exclude the very best teams that play at a high level every year in Europe, what we do, playing like this in Europe, the Cup, the domestic championship, is beyond what we can imagine. There are moments when things go well, others not so much. “Aston Villa“ played a very good game, Unai Emery went to the “Golden Ball“ and then they conceded 3 goals. We have to be more balanced in our analysis. I always try to be objective. On the day of the match with “Arda“ there were moments when we didn't have the right attitude, we weren't well organised, but it's not the same whether we play against 10 or 11 players, as it should have been in the 70th minute. "Up until now, none of you have mentioned it. Ultimately, we have to be aware that as long as the players perform like this, we will always be happy. Since January 2025, I think the training session after “Arda“ was in the top 3 training sessions since I've been here. If you think that the mood drops after a loss or we fly in the clouds after a win, it's not like that. We have to do a much more complex analysis“, the Spaniard also shared.
„Up until now, we have focused on compensating for the work of the players who did not play and recovering the others. Tomorrow will be the training session in which we will prepare for the match. We focused on conditioning work. Today, we could not burden the players and get them into playing form. If we had a hard training session, we would have tired them more. Today, I decided that the players should come, not rest, so that the recovery processes can go on, as well as do some mobility. Tomorrow, we will prepare for the match. But this happens in all teams that play every 3 days. As I told you and your colleague - we will have to adapt to the stadium, the pitch, understand how we have to play. From there, we have to understand the different moments in the match correctly and reduce the chances of them going into space. From a static point of view, we will try to defend away from our goal“, concluded Velázquez.