UCL: Theoretically, we were fully ready, but in reality, we weren’t – Cherchesov

Qarabag's coach Qurban Qurbanov started his short press conference (they had to catch their plane) by saying that they won a tough match in Budapest.

"Even though the result doesn't show it, it was a serious challenge against a very strong team. I would like to congratulate the opponents and wish them good luck, and of course, congratulations to my players and Azerbaijan as a whole. We are very happy with today's win, but I'm not thinking about the next goal, we want to enjoy this achievement for the time being."

Asked by Azerbaijani journalists what the key to his success might have been, he may have figured out the tactics of Fradi head coach Stanislav Cherchesov.

"That's not why we won at all. I have a lot of respect for Cherchesov, who would be difficult to see through, because he is a much more experienced coach than I am. We won because we really wanted this success. In the meantime, it was obvious that my colleague had put the Hungarian team together well, they played well, and they were a very strong opponent."

Nemzeti Sport asked Ferencváros head coach Stanislav Cherchesov what he attributed the defeat to after saying a day earlier that they were prepared for any possibility.

"Theoretically, we were fully ready, but unfortunately, in reality, we were not. The match was similar to the one at home against Slovan: a bad start and a bad finish. We didn't get into the game well from the start."

He was then asked to what he attributes the weakness of the defense.

"You cannot separate the defense, midfield, and forward line in terms of mistakes. We had a lot of unnecessary turnovers, which created space for the opponent's attacks. It was a Champions League qualifier today, in which we lost three to one, so I understand there are emotions, we spoke to the guys after the game. But it's my job as a coach to analyze the match without emotions and in a calm way."

He added that the criticism towards him and the team is justified as they lost this match.

"That's the journalists' job. However, my job towards the players is not to criticize, but to analyze the mistakes and prepare them, while I have to look at myself what I didn't do well."

Translated by Vanda Orosz