Ante Šimundža is convinced that Maribor wouldn’t have won if he hadn’t substituted Barišić and Strajnar: “For the first time, they experienced the derby, they didn’t handle it well”
Photo: Nik Moder / Sportida
Maribor defeated Olimpija, Ante Šimundža won the battle against Zoran Zeljković. The latter lost his second eternal derby, and the coach of the purple team admitted after the match that the 156th showdown of the old rivals would probably have ended differently if he hadn’t pulled Marko Strajnar and Max Barišić out of the game.
“If we hadn’t made substitutions, the story would probably have tilted in Olimpija’s favor. I wasn’t pleased with our left side in the first half. Both players experienced playing in the derby for the first time and didn’t handle it well. Perhaps understandably so. Mark is young, it was Maks’s first derby. I told him, welcome to Maribor. He has to go through this to function in the future in Maribor. That’s why we made the changes and gained what we wanted. Especially dominance on the field, which was already announced in the second part of the first half,” Ante Šimundža discussed after the match in Stožice.
The coach of the Styrian giants added: “Milec had to take on the role on the left side, but he confirmed the importance of experience from derbies. If I had put him in attack, he would have played great. With technically skilled players, you can dominate and consequently defend or attack more easily. We spent almost the entire second half on their half of the field, not allowing the opponent anything. With the substitutions, we achieved what we wanted.”
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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