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SHIRAK LOOKING NO FURTHER THAN TRE PENNE TEST
UEFA.com
July 1 2013
Published: Monday 1 July 2013, 15.03CET
"We will not be thinking about who the favourites are," said FC Shirak
coach Vardan Bichakhchyan as the Armenian champions prepare to face
SP Tre Penne from San Marino.
FC Shirak coach Vardan Bichakhchyan has warned his players not to
let their guards down as the Armenian title holders prepare to get
the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League under way.
Shirak will welcome Sammarinese side SP Tre Penne to the Gyumri City
Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, the first of 213 games in a competition
that culminates in Lisbon on 24 May. At the tenth time of asking
Shirak won their first tie in UEFA competition last season, edging
out FK Rudar Pljevlja 2-1 on aggregate to reach the second qualifying
round of the UEFA Europa League.
They are expected to repeat the feat against Tre Penne, but
Bichakhchyan is taking nothing for granted. "We will not be thinking
about who the favourites are because we know nothing about them,"
he said. "We might need to do some scouting during the game itself."
Tre Penne may know a little more about Shirak and their revival since
former player Bichakhchyan took the reins two years ago. He led them
to their maiden Armenian Cup in his first season and while they lost
the final last term, there was ample consolation in the form of a
fourth championship at the end of a marathon 42-game transitional
campaign. Armenia have switched to a winter league, eyeing European
gains.
There was some 12 months ago and they covet more this, with a
mouth-watering tie against FK Partizan the prize for beating Tre
Penne. Bichakhchyan says the Belgrade giants would be "very strong
opponents", but refuses to be drawn into more lengthy ruminations:
his focus is on Tre Penne. "The second qualifying round? We need to
get past the first one for starters. Our players must not underestimate
them; we must keep our concentration and focus."
Meanwhile, Tre Penne arrived in Armenia in the early hours of Sunday
and coach Marco Protti is keen to let his players acclimatise to the
conditions. "We'll try to defend strongly to avoid them pushing us
back, but we will have an eye on the counterattack," he said. "The
weather is really warm and this will make things more difficult for
us, because they will play at full speed."
The Sammarinese club are likely to be without central defender Vladimir
Mikhaylovskiy, who is suffering from a virus, and will hand a debut
to new signing and goalkeeper Gianmarco Pazzini in place of Federico
Valentini.
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1967880.html
UEFA.com
July 1 2013
Published: Monday 1 July 2013, 15.03CET
"We will not be thinking about who the favourites are," said FC Shirak
coach Vardan Bichakhchyan as the Armenian champions prepare to face
SP Tre Penne from San Marino.
FC Shirak coach Vardan Bichakhchyan has warned his players not to
let their guards down as the Armenian title holders prepare to get
the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League under way.
Shirak will welcome Sammarinese side SP Tre Penne to the Gyumri City
Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, the first of 213 games in a competition
that culminates in Lisbon on 24 May. At the tenth time of asking
Shirak won their first tie in UEFA competition last season, edging
out FK Rudar Pljevlja 2-1 on aggregate to reach the second qualifying
round of the UEFA Europa League.
They are expected to repeat the feat against Tre Penne, but
Bichakhchyan is taking nothing for granted. "We will not be thinking
about who the favourites are because we know nothing about them,"
he said. "We might need to do some scouting during the game itself."
Tre Penne may know a little more about Shirak and their revival since
former player Bichakhchyan took the reins two years ago. He led them
to their maiden Armenian Cup in his first season and while they lost
the final last term, there was ample consolation in the form of a
fourth championship at the end of a marathon 42-game transitional
campaign. Armenia have switched to a winter league, eyeing European
gains.
There was some 12 months ago and they covet more this, with a
mouth-watering tie against FK Partizan the prize for beating Tre
Penne. Bichakhchyan says the Belgrade giants would be "very strong
opponents", but refuses to be drawn into more lengthy ruminations:
his focus is on Tre Penne. "The second qualifying round? We need to
get past the first one for starters. Our players must not underestimate
them; we must keep our concentration and focus."
Meanwhile, Tre Penne arrived in Armenia in the early hours of Sunday
and coach Marco Protti is keen to let his players acclimatise to the
conditions. "We'll try to defend strongly to avoid them pushing us
back, but we will have an eye on the counterattack," he said. "The
weather is really warm and this will make things more difficult for
us, because they will play at full speed."
The Sammarinese club are likely to be without central defender Vladimir
Mikhaylovskiy, who is suffering from a virus, and will hand a debut
to new signing and goalkeeper Gianmarco Pazzini in place of Federico
Valentini.
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1967880.html