Pakhtakor head coach: "We must admit that the opponent showed football worthy of the victory and the result"

"Al-Hilol" defeated "Pakhtakor" 4-0 at home in the second leg of the Asian Champions League (ACL) Elite Play-off round. After the match in Saudi Arabia, "Pakhtakor" head coach Pedro Moreira expressed his thoughts at a press conference.

"Al-Hilol" played football worthy of victory"

"The atmosphere in the stadium was great. We knew that the level of the opponent was very high and today they showed a game worthy of it. We lost the ball a lot and we need to learn from this. We conceded the second goal on a counterattack, which complicated our game. In the second half, we were more active in attack, but in the first half we couldn't do it. We have to admit, the opponent played a game worthy of victory," Moreira said.

Tactical weaknesses and mistakes

"We knew Hilal's strengths in advance. They are very effective in attacking from the wings and they attract wingers from the center to attack. Unfortunately, we couldn't cope with the pace of the game. We are still in the process of building a new team, there are big changes in the squad. We played confidently in the first match in Tashkent, but this time we made more mistakes. We gave the opponent too much freedom and they skillfully used it.

Our team play was good, but unnecessary mistakes affected the result. Al-Hilal has a lot of high-level players and they showed their skills. If we had important players like Kayo Cesar in our squad, we could have played much better."

"We need to learn from these games"

"We need to draw appropriate conclusions from these matches. I think the team will take useful aspects from this competition. But in such high-level games you have to be ready against strong opponents. In the Super League we play completely different football.

I would like to say a special thank you to the fans. Although they are few in number, they have shown us great support. We want to see them in our matches in the championship. It is not a small achievement to reach this stage. We deserved to be in this round. "However, it is very difficult to play at a high level against one of the strongest teams in Asia after just four games."

Pakhtakor's future plans

Club coach Moreira noted that participation in the ACL was a great learning experience for Pakhtakor and expressed confidence that the team will become much stronger next season. The team is currently focused on achieving its goals in the Uzbekistan Super League and, depending on the results at the end of the season, aims to prepare for stronger competition on the international stage.

The Uzbek champion participated in the ACL Elite Stage and competed against high-level teams. Despite the heavy defeat in Saudi Arabia, the experience from this competition for Pakhtakor can serve the team's development next season. Pedro Moreira, on the other hand, will continue to work to turn his players into an even stronger team. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”