Before the match of the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Dinamo Tbilisi, the head coach of Neftchi, Samir Abasov , answered the questions of Georgian and Azerbaijani journalists.
Samir Abbasov: Years later, it is a great responsibility to represent Neftchi at such a ranking tournament, and we are happy to be participating in a tournament of this scale.
We will not hide that there is some excitement due to the format of the tournament. As you know, the Champions League is a large-scale tournament and requires more effort and nervous tension. We hope that these tensions will be removed tomorrow, before the match, and we will do our best to present our club, fans and country with dignity.
It should be noted that our rival team has some advantages, because the championship is still going on in Georgia and they are in good fit, but we held two friendly matches, where we tried to restore physical condition and prepare well for today's match against Dinamo.
I learned a lot from Kakha Tskhadadze as a coach, I know his career, coaching philosophy and playing style well and it will be useful for me in tomorrow's match, but it does not mean that I will copy his tactics . I will offer my game scheme to the opponent.
We know that Dinamo Tbilisi has a lot of matches to play in a short period of time and a it has tight calendar, but we, on the contrary, are worried about the lack of official matches due to the lack of games and the end of the season. We will try to make it our advantage.
Of course, any team has its strengths and weaknesses in certain areas and it would not be fair to talk about it. However, we will try to use both of these components well in practice. Even before the arrival and now, we try to study the opponent as much as possible and because of their qualified coach, we can not treat Dinamo Tbilisi as an easy opponent and look at it so easily.
It is clear that the upcoming match will take place on the background of tension. We are familiar with the opponent's game scheme and tactics, though one is theory and the other is the application of knowledge in practice. I know Kakha Tskhadadze well, I have working experience with him and his skills are well known to me. It is also noteworthy that Dinamo Tbilisi has a long history and traditions, just like our team, so tomorrow will be a difficult and tense match.