Head coach’s reaction after the European game

The Dragons failed in their second European match. A home game with Slovan Bratislava ended in a narrow victory for the visitors, who took one of the two penalties. Matevž Vidovšek managed to stop the first shot from the spot, but the Slovaks were accurate enough to get the three points in the second attempt.

Head coach Joao Henriques after the match: “We lost again because of a little details. We know that little things at this level are very important for the final result. Especially against such experienced teams. We paid for our mistakes with the goal. For me, that was the biggest difference. Slovan respected Olimpija, they knew how we play and they prepared well for us. The game was quite even, without many chances. The boys are developing. We have to understand that we were fighting against a team that has an average age of almost 32 and is used to such games. The average age of our team, without Mustafa Nukić, is ten years younger. The boys are playing at this level for the first time, but they have shown that they have quality. With a little more maturity they will fight for more in the future. We had more ball possession, we controlled the game for most of the time, but small mistakes made the difference in the end. At times we wanted to play too much, which is due to inexperience. Of course, I am never satisfied with a defeat, but with the desire and fight shown, I congratulate the boys. The future of Olimpija is certainly very bright.”

He continued: “We have to be aware that this is the first time we are in such a strong competition. Olimpija has never played at this level before, and the same goes for all its young players. Slovan, Lille, Ludogorets, Qarabag, Galatasaray… all our previous opponents have played in Europe and have qualified for the knockout stages. This is the reality. Of course we want to avoid mistakes, but we have to support the players as they grow. We have a young national team player in defence, with a 22-year-old standing next to him. These are players who deserve the respect of all of us because they are still developing. This is a completely different level and we should be proud of all of them. Am I happy with the players? I am! Am I happy with the performance? I am! Mistakes happen in football. We see them in the Champions League, where there are much more experienced players. Our reality is that this is something new for all of us. If Olimpija is champion again next year, and plays in Europe again, it will certainly be much better. One year is simply not enough. Things have to come together. We must not just look for mistakes. Not everything is always wrong, but almost everything is fine. It is a process. We have been training together for four months, we have 21 official matches behind us. You can’t imagine how exhausting it is to play at this level, how tough is to cope with the pressure of a tight schedule. But the boys are playing for Olimpija, they have to be ready for that and we are working hard on it. Nobody wants to point fingers at players who are giving their all.”

Henriques about first European home experience: ”Having 60% possession against a team like Slovan is not easy to achieve. It is something very good. We definitely need to be better next time, but you never see us defending in front of our own penalty area. Nobody has ever forced us to do that, even though we have played against very good teams. We will do the same against Klaksvik, we will try to win. The city, the club, the players. We are all in this for the first time and next time we will take a step forward. Before that, of course, we have the championship game on Sunday. If we want to be in Europe again, we have to be champions. That is our main objective and nothing else. There are 12 points left and we will fight for them until the last second.”