Jorge Jesus: "All our problems were caused by the bad pitch"

After the match "Pakhtakor" - "Al Hilal" (1:0) in the quarter-finals of the Elite ACL, the head coach of the Saudis Jorge Jesus attended a press conference.

"The first leg of the play-offs is over. Now we have the second leg. We need to focus on the match in Riyadh. We couldn't play the football we wanted on such a pitch. That's why we had to make changes to our game. We tried to play long passes and be the first to have the second ball. It's difficult to play quality football on such a pitch. In such cold weather, our injuries have increased. The minus five temperature and the bad pitch were the reason for this. For me, the worst result was not the defeat in today's match, but the fact that we lost our main players. Now we need to prepare for the next match. We'll play in Riyadh in a week," said Jorge Jesus.

- Al Hilal didn't play the football they wanted today. The team didn't attack well and several players were injured. What do you think is the reason for such a bad game?

- A well-formed team like Pakhtakor caused us a lot of problems. I repeat once again, no matter which of our players was on the field today, they could not play at their level. The reason for this was the field conditions. That is why we changed our style. We paid more attention to one-on-one battles, but this was not our tactic. The game forced us to change our style. Due to the cold weather and the field conditions, many of our players could not play until the end of the game. The bad field conditions are the cause of all our problems. I am more interested in how my team played today, not how my team will recover for the next game. I have already mentioned the reason for today's problems.

- Did Pakhtakor play the game you expected today?

- Pakhtakor's game did not surprise me. The game consisted only of fights. It is difficult to control the game in such conditions. The field conditions are the cause of everything. We showed everything we could. Now we have to think about the match in Riyadh. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”