The first Slovak football club enters the fight in European cups. Majstrovský Slovan Bratislava is waiting for the first match of the opening preliminary round of the Champions League tomorrow at Tehelno poli from 8:30 p.m. In it, he will face the Georgian Dynamo Batumi.
“We are playing against a quality opponent. I know him. The team has been together for three years. It is led by a coach who worked with me at the Georgian national team. We are the favorite, but I have respect for the opponent. We have to show on the pitch that we have better players,” says coach Vladimír Weiss Sr. before the match.
They put their egos aside
He sat in the middle at the press conference. On his right hand was his son and the new captain of the team, Vladimír Weiss Jr., on his left was the general director of the club, Ivan Kmotrík Jr. Not much was missing, and the former national team coach would have put together a different team.
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Weiss st. Even Kmotrík spent a long time and unsuccessfully sanding the edges of their own personalities during last season. Disputes escalated. For two days it looked like Slovan would be without Weiss. In the end, everything is different and the most successful Slovak coach stayed in Bratislava. A father’s hand intervened.
“There were more reasons. One thing is an unfinished job on my part. The other is to clarify some interpersonal relationships. Of course, Ivan’s father (owner of the club Kmotrík senior, note) handled the situation with me and with Ivo in a fatherly manner. I know little Ivo from childhood.
We have put egos in the past and are looking to the future. Not everything in life is rosy. Everyone has their own ideas and they don’t always go together,” explains Weiss senior.
His situation was also complicated by problems with covid or other health problems. In the end, however, the 57-year-old coach is not only healthy, but also satisfied. Anyone who knows him knows that this is more of a rarity than the rule. And proof that this time Slovan did not throw money in the air in the transfer market, but invested correctly.
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“We have set new, tougher rules in the team. About arriving at the stadium, eating habits, things in the cabin and so on. We are chasing the dream, which is the Champions League group. I would like to play there one more time.
We will not give up, but there is a lot of work. Now it is more difficult to get there than in the time of Artmedia. We have to be better and more demanding of ourselves. The reinforcements we wanted arrived and I know them well. We’ll do our best,” Weiss chokes.
Belgian Ďurica, Georgian Weiss
The goals do not change. Whites want to win the fifth championship title in a row. However, the main ambition is to play in the group stage of one of the European cups. According to that, the most successful Slovak club also composed the squad.
Slovan brought in four players in the current transfer period – midfielder Juraj Kucka, Belgian stopper Siemen Voet, striker Eric Ramírez from Venezuela, and completed the transfer of Georgian winger Giorgi Čakvetadze on Monday.
Juraj Kucka talks about his transfer to Slovan Bratislava
“Voet arrived, whom we wanted already in the winter. He is a promising stopper and a left-hander. He reminds me of Jan Ďurica when he came to Artmedia as a young boy. We were looking for him.
He is an excellent boy and professional. I believe that Ramírez will help us in the offensive phase and Ivan Šaponjič will have competition,” responds Weiss senior.
He wanted all the mentioned players. He considers the arrival of 35-year-old Kuck to be the biggest boost for the team – on the field and in the cabin.
“In terms of football and human qualities, he is a personality. He has his age, but his aggressiveness and love for football are admirable. I haven’t seen him play bad in my career. He always does a great amount of work,” the coach of the Whites praises the former national team player.
He also paid compliments to twenty-two-year-old Chakvetadze, who expanded the Georgian enclave in the club. He knows Guram Kashi and Jab Kankav from the national team.
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“As an 18-year-old, he won the C-League of Nations with Georgia. He scored four goals and assisted on four. He suffered a serious knee injury two and a half years ago, and he has had two operations. I believe we have made a fantastic transfer.
He is a player with huge potential. He looks like Vlad to me. Georgi doesn’t say much. Just like Kankava, who doesn’t say anything at all, but shows performances on the field. I expect the same for Čakve,” adds Weiss.
No excuses
The Georgian champion from Batumi will try to take advantage of the better match workload. While Slovan is waiting for the first sharp after three preparatory duels, the Georgian champion is in first place after twenty league rounds. He lost once with a score of 55:14.
“They have the advantage of being at match pace, but we can’t argue about that. We have to manage the double-header. I will never be completely satisfied, but this team is getting close to that.
I thank the management for creating the conditions I wanted. I believe that we will be successful and we will play every Wednesday and Saturday until the middle of November,” Weiss wishes.
Read more Slovan reports reinforcement. Last year’s top gunner will play for the Whites
Not even five thousand tickets were sold on Monday, which neither Weiss nor the Godfather likes. Slovan’s coach responded with one sentence.
“When we play well, show quality and heart, the audience will come back,” he concludes.
His son became the new team captain after Vasil Božikov, who left the team. He is looking forward to a new challenge, although he and his teammates will have a difficult task at the start.
“I appreciate it, it means more responsibility. I wanted to be a leader. I like challenges. I believe that we will start in the best possible shape. Sometimes the first step is the hardest. I hope we can handle it and go far,” he states.
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