"Sabah" showed a good side of themselves in both games, even though they couldn't reach the next stage."
Idman.biz reports that these words were said by Arif Asadov, the former coach of the Azerbaijani national team, in his statement to Sport24.az.
The experienced specialist shared his thoughts on the defeat of the Baku representative to the Slovenian team "Celje" in the first qualifying round of the Europa League: "We watched matches of equal level. Despite the fact that a difficult and experienced opponent was encountered. In the end, the experience of "Celje", and the fact that "Sabah" was not fully ready, affected the result. After the defeat in the first match, there was nothing to lose. The team had to take risks. That's what happened. They started the match by putting pressure on the opponent. They achieved what they wanted and took the lead."
Arif Asadov also spoke about the main problems of the Azerbaijani club: "Sabah" defended relatively well in the second match. But they also lost the ball quickly when they got it. Lack of ball control was one of the main problems. They also took the lead in the score. The fact that the physical quality was not so high in extra minutes had its say. Because they conceded goals in the last minutes in both matches. This can be due to both fatigue and carelessness. But there were good matches. "Sabah" looked like a potential team. I think they will be able to qualify for the next stages in the Conference League. Transfers and the head coach's work speak for themselves. The substitutions made by the new coach added strength to the game. I think that even though they lost, they showed a decent game."
It should be noted that "Sabah", which lost 2:3 in Baku, won with the same score in regular time away. Since extra time ended with a score of 3:3, the Baku team stopped the fight.
Idman.biz