"Coming to complete the mission": Hapoel Tel Aviv is prepared for Ludogorets
Hapoel Tel Aviv will meet Ludogorets today (Thursday) for the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League. Last week, the Reds secured an excellent advantage, winning 2:0 against the Bulgarians in the home match held in Miskolc with the support of about 5,000 fans.
"Coming to complete the mission": Hapoel Tel Aviv is prepared for Ludogorets. Hapoel Tel Aviv will meet Ludogorets today (Thursday) for the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League. Last week, the Reds secured an excellent advantage, winning 2:0 against the Bulgarians in the home match held in Miskolc with the support of about 5,000 fans in the stands in Hungary.
The fans from Tel Aviv sold out all the tickets for the second leg, which means that about 1,500 spectators in red will accompany the team to the important meeting. At Hapoel Tel Aviv, they know that the advantage is fragile and therefore they are not arriving complacent. Barda said at the press conference:
"We are here first of all to complete the mission from last week. This is only the first part and there is another game, and we look forward to continuing the good things we did and improving the parts that are lacking."
The coach added: "A particularly difficult game awaits us, it is one of our strengths to come and believe in every game. I respect the opponent very much and we need to be ready for any scenario." Barda recalled his time as a player: "I was a player not long ago, there is no game that is like the previous one and we need to be alert every minute on the pitch."
The player who will play in his homeland, Andrian Kraev, also spoke ahead of the meeting: "To be honest, a two-goal lead is very important, but we know that in the game it will be different, and with all due respect to Ludogorets, we are arriving to finish the job and qualify for the next stage."
At the end of the week, Ludogorets won 2:0 against Dunav Ruse in the league match and gained some confidence before the game. At the press conference held yesterday, Ludogorets coach Thomas Reis expressed his confidence that his team will qualify for the next stage despite the deficit. He stated that a detailed video analysis was done, in which his players saw their mistakes and know how to prevent them ahead of the meeting.
If the Reds advance, they will meet in the third round the winner of the match between Zilina and GKS Katowice (the Slovaks lead 2:1 after the first match).
Predicted lineups:
Hapoel Tel Aviv - Asaf Tzur; Doron Leidner, Chico Alves, Fernand Mayembo, Marcus Coco; Lucas Falcao, Andrian Kraev; Omri Altman, Stav Turiel, Emmanuel Boateng, Xande Silva.
Ludogorets - Hendrik Bonmann; Son, Edvin Kurtulus, Vinicius Nogueira, Anton Nedyalkov; Bernard Tekpetey, Aguibou Camara, Petar Stanic, Ivaylo Chochev; Alberto Salido, Rwan Cruz.
