Melikyan after Latvia win: “It’s hard to celebrate — we have three more matches and we’ve lost Bueno”

Armenia opened their 2026/27 UEFA Nations League campaign with a 2–0 home win over Latvia. After the September 25 match, head coach Yeghishe Melikyan discussed Artyom Bandikyan’s tactical role and the substitutions that helped produce the second goal. He admitted, however, that he could not fully enjoy the result: defender Julio Bueno had been injured, and Armenia still have three matches to play amid a series of squad absences.

Yeghishe Melikyan’s press conference after Armenia 2–0 Latvia

— Can you explain Artyom Bandikyan’s unusual role? He moved into central midfield when Armenia attacked but played as the right wing-back when the team defended.

— Yes, you noticed that correctly. But I don’t want to reveal the tactical details because we still have more matches ahead. We have done a lot of tactical and classroom work recently to prepare for this. It wasn’t easy, and I’m grateful to the players for the work they put in. We managed to find the key to victory in this match, but we already have to think about the next one. Right now, I’m thinking only about the match against Montenegro.

I’m very pleased with Bandikyan. He has a knee problem — another player in that situation would already have gone for surgery.

— What were you unhappy with despite the win, and what needs work before the match against Montenegro?

— I no longer want to talk about the problems because some fans and journalists misunderstand those conversations. I feel the pressure, but I don’t want it to affect the players. There are many problems, but I won’t discuss them.

Losing Julio Bueno worries me greatly. He won’t play in the upcoming matches. Today we lost a very important player — and so did Ararat-Armenia. He is incredibly important to the team. Bueno came to the national team after a heavy workload at his club. He has played more minutes than anyone else this season, and his body could no longer cope.

I had asked the club’s coaches to give him more rest before the national team matches. But I understand them too: they are thinking about winning games for their team, and that’s normal. I knew Bueno was at risk, and I’m very upset about his injury.

— Apart from the win, what else stood out to you in this match?

— The most important thing is that we proved people can believe in us. Before the match, I promised a victory, but someone here doubted my words and looked for a catch.

— How do you assess Artur Garibyan’s debut for the national team?

— You saw him play and watched his interview. When I met him in Moscow and we spoke about the Armenia national team and what it means, he said he got goosebumps whenever he heard about the national team. That is exactly the kind of player we need. A true Armenian.

— Roughly how long will Bueno be out? Do you plan to use Spertsyan in a different role and play Karlen Hovhannisyan alongside Iwu?

— At half-time, Bueno tried to convince me not to take him off. But once we understood how serious the problem was, we couldn’t let him continue. We don’t want to risk his health, even though he is willing to play through pain. The injury is serious. I think he definitely won’t play in the upcoming matches, but we’ll see how things develop.

With this injury on top of the previous ones, our options are very limited. That means every available player could get on the pitch, including Karlen Hovhannisyan alongside Iwu. Other options are possible too. For example, Karen Nalbandyan was not in the squad for the Latvia match, but I know for certain that he will play in the next games. I intend to use everyone we have over the remaining three matches.

— Your substitutions had a successful impact: Zhirayr Shaghoyan and Artur Garibyan came on and combined for the second goal. How do you assess Shaghoyan’s performance?

— I’m very pleased. We all know his strengths, but we also know that he sometimes avoids physical duels. In this match, he went into those challenges actively and won them. I could see how committed he was. There wasn’t a single player who failed to give his best. Now it’s important to maintain that attitude and the good atmosphere in the team.

— It seems you can’t fully enjoy the victory. Is something worrying you?

— Yes. I’m worried about the upcoming matches because I know the problems the team is facing right now. I’m talking about the players we’ve lost and the fact that I’ll have to get the maximum out of those we have available. If we had only one game left, I could use them to the very limit without hesitation. But we have three more matches, and we have to think ahead. That’s why it’s hard for me to fully express my joy at the win right now.

— What was Eduard Spertsyan’s role? He seemed to have freedom to move in attack. Was that your instruction?

— Yes. Spertsyan is a very disciplined player and followed the coaching staff’s instructions closely. He appeared in different areas when we attacked, but most often played near Tiknizyan. They combined well on the left, while we gave the entire right flank to Artur Serobyan.