Fiorentina Coach Paulo Sousa assures the Viola “respect” Qarabag, ahead of their Europa League clash tomorrow.
The Tuscan side will secure their place in the Last 32 of the competition if they avoid defeat in Azerbaijan, and can even afford to lose as long as PAOK don’t win.
“We respect our opponents,” Sousa said in his pre-match Press conference.
“Qarabag have a good project, with a good Coach [Gurban Gurbanov] and players in the national team.
Fiorentina Coach Paulo Sousa assures the Viola “respect” Qarabag, ahead of their Europa League clash tomorrow.
The Tuscan side will secure their place in the Last 32 of the competition if they avoid defeat in Azerbaijan, and can even afford to lose as long as PAOK don’t win.
“We respect our opponents,” Sousa said in his pre-match Press conference.
“Qarabag have a good project, with a good Coach [Gurban Gurbanov] and players in the national team.
“We have to be careful tomorrow, because they’re in good form and the Coach has been there for a long time.
“Intensity can cause them problems as against [Slovan] Liberec, so we have to do that and create chances if we’re going to win.
"Qarabag's history? No, I don't know where their name comes from, but the work of the club is allowing them to compete in Europe, and that's the beauty of football.
"If you have time to explain it, I'll gladly listen."
An Azerbaijani journalist explained that the name comes from the original city of the club, Agdam in the Karabakh region, which is now almost entirely deserted. The Coach thanked him for the explanation.
Sousa was then asked how many changes he’ll make tomorrow, including whether Luca Lezzerini will be given a start.
“I try to think about these things according to the match we’re playing. I make decisions to win games. Everyone has to be ready, and everyone is.
“The goalkeeper? I’m a very daring Coach, but that’s the most difficult role. That said, you get experience by playing, not with age.
“I played Lezzerini against PAOK because we believe in him and to bring him closer to his future of playing in Serie A, but we have three goalkeepers available for tomorrow [Lezzerini plus Ciprian Tatarusanu and Bartłomiej Drągowski].”