The first leg of Europa League second round qualifying between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Kairat Almaty will take place tomorrow, Thursday at the Central Stadium, 17:45. The Yellow & Blue arrived in Kazakhstan late last night and will conduct their final training session prior to the match this evening.
Shota Arveladze spoke about tomorrow’s encounter and talked about what he believes are some of Kairat’s advantages: “We’re here and all of our focus and concentration is on tomorrow’s match. One of the advantages that our opponent has is that they are in the middle of their domestic season, in fact nearing its end. Their recent results have been very good and are a fine team with a terrific coach. This fact shouldn’t change anything for our players. We have two games where we will have to prove ourselves.”
On Arshavin and Benayoun playing against each other:
“You’re talking about two footballing greats and also the fact that the Kazakhstan fans came to the hotel to honor Benayoun is something special.”
Facing a fellow Georgian coach:
“It’s definitely a Georgian Derby. He’s already won 12 matches and I have only been victorious in two, so he may have a better run going than me, but I’m in better shape.” Arveladze concluded in laughter.
Haris Medunjanin also discussed tomorrow’s match against Kairat: “We came here to get a good result. It’s no secret that you must score a goal in an away match. We have a good team and we’ll do the utmost to score and win the game.”
