Henriques after Qarabag

Qarabag was the better opponent in Stožice. First match of the Europa League qualifications round 4 ended 0:2, with the return leg to be played next week in Baku. On Sunday, the Green-Whites will host Celje in their home match.

Joao Henriques after the game: “We expected a tough and experienced team, a team that played in the Europa League group stage last year. We saw that in the match, but again it was the details and our mistakes that made the difference. The opponent also made them, but we did not take advantage of them. These are the things that decide the winner at this level.”

On the final outcome: “We are not satisfied, but we have seen that our players are capable of playing football. They can compete even against teams like this. The statistics are very balanced. In the end it was even, but it was the details that made the result what it was. It is a good experience for all of us, and we have not said the last word yet. We only lost the first half. We know that Qarabag is strong and confident after the win, but we are going to Azerbaijan to win. That is our mentality. But before that, we have a very important home game against Celje.”

On goal situations: “We had a few chances at the start of the game, but later we struggled to find open spaces. We tried to move the ball into the empty space, which led to our second goal, and the first one came from a corner. During the break we talked about where these open spaces were and how to find them, so it was a bit easier for the players in the second half. Maybe because of the condition of the pitch it was more difficult than usual, and we were up against a physically strong team. But we have quality, which was evident at the end of the game when Qarabag were brought down by fatigue and found themselves in trouble.”