“We will have almost the whole team at our disposal.”

The busy rhythm of matches continues with the European Challenge. In the Europa League round 4 qualifying round, the Dragons will host Qarabag. An Azerbaijani representative has already visited Ljubljana in 2018. After two games played, it was more successful, but the Green-Whites believe in a different outcome this time.

Head Coach Joao Henriques addressed the media during the official training session: ‘‘We are happy to be in the last round of Europa League qualification. The players are excited and ready for the challenge. We are now used to European games and we are better prepared than in the opener against Valmiera. The only thing that is not in our favour is fatigue and too many games in a series. But that is the price a team playing in the domestic championship and in Europe has to pay. A few players are back from injury and a few are doubtful to play. But we are in a much better condition than on Sunday, when we played against Aluminij. We will have almost the whole team at our disposal, which makes us optimistic.”

The Dragons’ strategist thinks about his rival: “Qarabag is a very good team. They are strong both collectively and individually. We will play against a team that has experience of playing in the group stage of European competitions. Even in terms of budget, we can’t compare with them. Qarabag is therefore the favourite, but our chances of progressing are certainly higher than they were in the case of Galatasaray. I think Qarabag is between Ludogorets and Galatasaray in terms of quality. I have told this to the players. Collectively, they are stronger than Ludogorets, but individually they are about the same level. I know some of their players because they played in Portugal. I think they will put a lot of pressure on us, because that is one of their virtues. Their defence is also set very high. We will play against a strong team that was eliminated in the Champions League qualifiers against the Polish champions.”

Motivation will not be questioned. The objective is clear: “Playing in the Champions League is a dream for everyone. We achieved our first goal by qualifying for the Conference League, but the Europa League is a much stronger competition. The players know that they have the opportunity to play against a team like Liverpool in the group stage. When you play in Europe you play at a completely different level, the atmosphere in the stadium is different, there are spectators in the stands, the games are better covered by the media. The players know this and are fully motivated in anticipation of the game.”