Qarabag assistant suggests defensive tactics

Qarabag assistant manager, Avtandil Hajiyev, spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow’s game against Celtic. This is what he had to say:

“Celtic were strong favourites before the first leg but the 0-1 score suggests that nothing is over yet. The main struggle for both teams lies ahead.

“It’s a pity the game was not on TV as you would have seen that we had the advantage.

“We played well throughout the game, although you could not point to one single area where we were most dominant, but there were periods when Qarabag were on top. If you take the game as a whole, we performed better than Celtic.

“A small defeat away was a good result. Celtic are strong, they even managed to beat Barcelona at home. Eorpean clubs have difficulty at Celtic Park, but we provided decent resistance. 0-1 is not so depressing, we can achieve a result this week which will allow us to progress.

“Tactically, there is little difference between a 0-0 and a 0-1 defeat. We know we have to score one goal with either result to stay in the tie, so our approach will not change because of the goal.

“The return game will also be defensive but we will attack more. The Scots know and have probably already analysed our attacks, but I believe Gurban Gurbanov (Qarabeg manager) will have a few surprises in attack.

“The players have had time to analyse what happened in the first game. Our preparations are complete.

“Celtic can score in Baku but I believe the Qarabag defence will play safe and keep their goal intact.”

It’s a pity we all missed those periods when Qarabag were on top.