“We didn’t come here as tourists who want to enjoy this great and beautiful city. We came to fight and show our fans good football. It is an important match, also in terms of experience and our development. We are the only Cypriot team in the group stage of the European Cups, so we also came here for points. Anything can happen. The final of the competition (next year) is played in Dublin, we want to get there, that’s clear,” joked Špilevskij.
Aris made its appearance in cup Europe for the first time only last season, when it was immediately eliminated in the 2nd preliminary round of the European Conference League with Neftči Baku. In the current season, however, they advanced over BATE Borisov in the 2nd preliminary round of the Champions League, then failed with Raków Čenstochová and were eliminated by Slovan Bratislava in the final qualification of the Europa League.
“Playing in the Europa League group is an amazing opportunity, we are looking forward to it. We will come across absolutely top teams. I had a lot of fun analyzing Sparta, they play at a high speed, actively, it’s real football, which I really like. You want to face such opponents every week,” Špilevskij said. The other teams in Group C are Glasgow Rangers and Betis Sevilla.
“We already have some experience from European cups in our legs, the one from last season was not good, but it was very important for our development. I feel that the guys are confident and not arrogant and that they can get out of difficult situations. Tomorrow we need to show an absolutely top performance, everyone must be mentally prepared and not be afraid,” said the 35-year-old Belarusian.
He singled out Sparta. “I like her style of play, it reminds me of the English league. Their coach (Brian Priske) is doing a fantastic job, I give him credit for that. I’m really looking forward to seeing how my players will do against Sparta,” said the former youth coach of Stuttgart and Leipzig.
Photo: Vlastimil Vacek, Law
Angelo Preciado during the match of the 8th round of the Fortuna league
“Both teams have a similar style, it could be a very fast and open game. I hope that will not be the case for us and that we will control the transition phase. We must not allow them to counter-attack because they have fast players, they push forward a lot. In attack, they use specific things, unexpected movements, which is not easy to defend against. We have taken everything into account and know their strengths and weaknesses. We will try to exploit their weaknesses. We need one hundred percent concentration and enthusiasm from all the players,” said Špilevskij.
He did not want to call Sparta the clear favorite of the match. “If I said that was the case, I would be greatly underestimating the quality of my players. Sparta is of course more experienced, it has a name in Europe. They are a few steps ahead of us. We are newcomers here, but we are hungry and we want to compete with such teams,” said the native of Minsk.
“Anyway, we can only win. Even if we lose points tomorrow, which we hope will not happen, it would not be a defeat for us. We are learning. I hate defeat, I can’t even describe how. But losses are an important part of the process for me and the whole club,” Špilevskij said.
Aris dominated the Cypriot league for the first time last season. “We fought a lot for this opportunity. We must not forget what football brings. Three years ago we played in the second league and tomorrow we will play in the Europa League against a strong opponent. Never question the dreamers because we are dangerous. We have nothing to lose. Let’s try to surprise Sparta tomorrow, it would certainly make them happy,” said Brazilian goalkeeper and captain Vaná Alves with a smile.
2023-09-21 00:39:39
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