AIK, for example, left West Ham in a draw in the next round of UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
However, according to themselves, they did not miss anything.
– Your questions sound like you think this match against Shkendija is against a dreaded second-tier team that will come here and do a tour, says AIK coach Bartosz Grzelak.
“Dream Lottery”
It was a word that appeared widely on social media as well as in media headlines after the supplement part Europa Conference LeagueThe qualifiers have been withdrawn.
Because both AIK and Djurgården received so much that everything points to an affordable and mathematically feasible path to the group stage. Djurgården receives a Cypriot or a Kazakh in the event of a victory over Romanian Sepsi. AIK will likely overtake Czech Slovacko if they bypass North Macedonia Shkendija, which they face in the third qualifying round.
“No easy matches”
However, AIK coach Bartosz Grzelak had nothing to spare in this theorizing for a possible path to the group stage.
– In our group, we are very good at living by the motto, one game at a time. There was no talk in Karlberg of us getting a dream ticket, says Grzelak at the press conference before Thursday’s game at Friends Arena.
– There was talk of a lottery dream before Vorskla too. But you did not clean up the fifth Ukrainian league. There are no easy matches in Europe.. all the focus is on tomorrow and not after that.
‘Absolutely irrelevant’
When more questions are asked from reporters about whether AIK is comfortable escaping the toughest opposition in the future qualifying track (eg West Ham, as it could have been), the AIK coach roars.
– We didn’t miss anything because we’re not there. What is around the corner is absolutely irrelevant. Your questions make it sound as if you think this match against Shkendija is against a damned second division team that will come here and do a tour… It’s a good football team. They have players on the team who could easily be the best players in the Allsvenskan. It will be a challenge and it is not possible to put the energy into something further. We don’t even think in terms of losing something.
positive memories
In the final qualifying round, against Ukraine’s Vorskla, extra time (and a turn) was required to secure promotion.
To what extent does the memory of that role strengthen you for the future?
– All experiences in this kind of context are positive. We have a lot of players who don’t have a lot of experience in this type of match. It can only be positive. Nice experience. Team captain Sebastian Larsson says the way we came from a disadvantage and with our fans changed the course of the match.