Celje coach Albert Riera doesn’t want to defend against strong Turks: “We will definitely try to impose our style of play on our opponents”

Published on 23. October 2024 23. October 2024

Photo: Luka Vovk / Sportida

Celje has never experienced a match like the one scheduled for Thursday in its entire history. In the princely city, they will host the very first match in the group stage of one of the European cups, as the home team faces the Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir in the second round of the Conference League. Although they may not be Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe, they still possess a strong and quality squad that will be a significant challenge for Celje. Albert Riera still hopes that his team will rise to the challenge against a club that has only won once in its last five matches and lost three times.

“Like us, the opponent feels that this is an excellent opportunity for the club to show itself well in Europe after losing the first match of the Conference League. We have seen that they want to be a team that controls all matches. But by now, you certainly know that I am not a coach who waits for the opponent and drops back. I like to attack, I like to have the ball at my feet, so we will definitely try to impose our style of play on the opponent and take control of the match. Even if at times we are forced to suffer and defend,” Albert Riera made it clear before the match against the club from the Turkish capital that those who come to the stadion Z’dežele will certainly not be watching a defensive game from Celje.

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Regarding the opponent, the former coach of Olimpija and Bordeaux said: “This is a big club made up of many former players from both Turkish giants, Galatasaray and especially Fenerbahçe, who want to prove that the mentioned clubs made a mistake by not choosing them. They undoubtedly have many quality players who want to have territorial superiority and the ball at their feet.”

Albert Riera: “We need to be better in defense”

If Celje wants to extract more from the match than a loss, it will need to perform significantly better, especially in defense. It is not insignificant that Riera’s team has conceded as many as 10 goals in their last four matches. “We are working hard to improve our defensive phase. We need to be good with and without the ball because if you want to play with the ball and maintain possession, you also have to know how to regain it quickly. Teams that only think about playing with the ball usually have great difficulties when they find themselves in situations when they don’t have it. If we are aggressive enough tomorrow and want to deny the opponent control of the game, then we will be on the right track. Motivation cannot be questionable in such big matches,” added Albert Riera.David Zec, who plays in defense, also realizes that his recent performances in front of goal have not been at the highest level. “We have analyzed the opponent and are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Although it may seem from the outside and be talked about as a historic match for the club, the coaches and we players are treating tomorrow’s match as a regular game, or at least we are preparing that way. We know that we have had defensive issues since the beginning of this season, so our focus in the last training sessions has been primarily on this part of the game. Statistics show that we have the best attack in the league, so we do not expect major problems here,” David Zec said before the historic Thursday match.