Before a historic match for Armenia: Sandro Perković on pressure, character, and the strength of Legia

The head coach of Yerevan’s Noah, Sandro Perković, held a press conference ahead of the UEFA Europa Conference League Matchday 5 game against Warsaw’s Legia. The match will take place on December 11 in Yerevan and may become historic: if Noah wins, it will become the first Armenian club to reach the playoffs of a European competition.

Sandro Perković’s press conference before the Noah – Legia match

On pressure and the team’s mindset

— Everyone says tomorrow’s game will be historic. What do you do to ensure the players don’t feel excessive pressure?
— We’ve been in this position since June. We know this game will be incredibly important for Armenian football, but we are fully focused on what happens on the pitch. We have 5 points after 4 matches. We are happy that these three points against Legia could become historic for Armenian football and for our club.

On the team’s performance by halves

— We often notice that Noah plays better in the second half. Is this a positive sign or an indication that the initial plan doesn’t work?
— Thank you for noticing that. I understand that when we play poorly, it is my responsibility. We all know that our performance does not always meet expectations. But you don’t fall when you lose — you fall when you give up. I can assure you that we will never give up. Football includes technical, physical, and mental preparation. And if you look even deeper, we also have character. In the last match against BKMA we did not show our character, but tomorrow we will show that we wear this shirt for a reason and will give everything on the field. Tomorrow we won’t play to impress everyone; we will play for our club and show true character.

On aggression in the game

— It seems to us that Noah plays too calmly and measuredly in several matches. Don’t you think so?
— If you look at the last three league matches, you’ll see we have many yellow cards and three red cards (two of them early in the games). So I would prefer to play less aggressively but finish the game with 11 players on the pitch.

On Legia and Vahan Bichakhchyan

— What do you think about Legia and about Bichakhchyan?
— Legia is a very big club, and football in Poland is well developed. They have a strong team with a quality squad. But their results at the moment are not the best. As for Vahan Bichakhchyan — I am always happy to see Armenian players in major European clubs. He is an excellent player; I like him. But I also like my players, especially my Armenian players.

The match will take place on December 11 at 21:45 local time in Yerevan at the Republican Stadium.

Vahan Bichakhchyan: “I’m happy to return home and play against a team from Armenia.”