The head coach of Varna Black Sea Ilian Iliev said that his team will do everything possible to overcome Israel's Apoel Be'er Sheva in the second qualifying round of the Conference League, BTA reported.
The second leg will be played tomorrow (August 1) in Razgrad, and the first match ended in a 0:0 draw.
"Naturally, once we are here we will try to do our best to please our fans and ourselves. It won't be easy, because they are a team that has experience in European tournaments, and last year against Levski, their second match was better than the first", commented Iliev before the second match with Apoel Be'er Sheva.
"The main factor for success will be to play compactly, shorten the distance, be aggressive in the duels, use the empty spaces and look for them, not so much that we have not lost as much time as the hosts. We have no injuries. The only questionable is Weslen Junior because of the old injury he had. I hope we will be ready for the match tomorrow," continued the Varna coach.
"Sometimes when you have matches every 3-4 days it is easier to get into a rhythm. I hope that will be the case here as well. Naturally we want to play in 3-4 days, God willing we continue. We are concentrating on the upcoming match, and the players showed it in the previous match. I hope there will be a lot of our fans and the thrill of the match, as always, will pass faster", Ilian Iliev also said and added:
"We didn't practice penalties, we didn't have time to practice penalties. In the first game we were equal at times. Sometimes we had the advantage, and sometimes they did. They practice good football, but we have to give credit to our players, who after 15-20 minutes got rid of the little stiffness."
The experienced midfielder of Black Sea (Varna) Vasil Panayotov stated that their strength is the team, and there was concern in the first meeting. There won't be such a psychological moment now, and Varna players are hoping for ultimate success after 0:0 a week ago.
"The atmosphere is always good with us and positive. We haven't talked much about the game coming up tomorrow. Until now, we have been concentrating on the championship, and since yesterday we have been thinking in a different way, namely how to play the best match against Apoel (Beer Sheva) and move forward", Panayotov began.
With many years on the field, and already part of the national team, the midfielder knows that he has tasks both on and off the field. "The role of us experienced is great, but above all to unite the team between foreigners, younger and more experienced, so that we are one. Because our goal is the team and we see that everyone is equal and everyone gives the maximum for the team. We watched a video and we all agreed that because it was our first game in Europe for a long time, we were more worried. But in the second half we showed a part of the game that both the head coach and our fans want to see. I hope that tomorrow, from the first minute, we will show the face of the Black Sea and play a very strong match, and finally eliminate the Apoel team (Beer Sheva).
The match will be played in Razgrad, as the "Ticha" stadium there is no license in the Sea Capital. But that won't stop the team's fans from traveling two hours or so to support their favorites. "I hope we get real and big support. But it also depends on us, to show the face that the coach and the fans want. We must not give up until the last moment. We are back, despite the short time since our last championship game. And this is our profession, we have no right to complain and everyone must be ready and come out victorious.
And how will the match be decided, will there be penalties? "No one thinks about it. Everyone is focused on the match, to give the maximum from the first minute and within 90 minutes to achieve victory. I'm not on the forecast, but I want the Black Sea to succeed. This collective, a team that has been built for many years deserves this thing.