Hibernians and Floriana must produce something extraordinary if they are to extend their stay in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday.
The Paolites are in Slovakia, where they will seek to overturn a 2-1 defeat to Spartak Trnava in the opening leg at the Tony Bezzina Stadium last week.
On the other hand, Floriana will have home advantage when they host Kosovo side FC Ballkani with the Greens needing to win by at least two goals if they are to cancel out last week’s 4-2 defeat in the opening leg in Prishtina.
Despite losing the opening leg, Hibernians provided enough evidence last week that they are more than capable of giving a good run for their money to Spartak Trnava and, upsetting their more-quoted opponents at the Štadión Antona Malatinského stadium (kick off: 17.30).
Coach Branko Nisevic said that despite last week’s defeat, his team’s chances of progressing to the next round are still alive and that should serve as a great motivation for the players to go for it this afternoon.
“After the first match, we can say that although Spartak has an obvious advantage, the result of the tie is still open, and that is one of the strongest motivations for our players,” the Serbian coach told the Times of Malta.
“We are aware that Spartak Trnava’s approach to the game will be more aggressive from the first whistle. So we have to be strong enough to resist the initial pressure, because as more time passes, it will work in our favour.
“We need to display a strong defensive play, and be clinical on any chance or half-chance that will come our way.”
Nisevic said that he expects Spartak Trnava to come out firing on all cylinders right from the word ‘go’ and he expects them to take much more risks than they did in the opening leg last week.
“Spartak Trnava are the team that is ready to take risks, and I believe that in front of their crowd, they will risk even more,” the former Ħamrun Spartans coach said.
“Going man-to-man press all over the pitch, we need to be smarter about how to open up spaces, and take them in direct duels 2vs2, or 3vs3.
“We also need to be more aggressive when defending set pieces, because they have great delivery and several smart combinations.”
Pressure
Nisevic said that many might believe that all the pressure is on Spartak Trnava but he reckons that the Hibs players and coaching staff do feel a bit of pressure to try and do something extraordinary tonight.
“It could be that pressure is more on them, but within our squad, we also feel pressure to do something more and something better,” Nisevic said.
“We know that we are going to face enormous pressure from the first minute, so we need brave players to perform under pressure, to accept strong contacts, to play in a hostile environment, which their supporters will create.
“We are going to Trnava, for all or nothing, and in line with this, we all must be ready for extraordinary sacrifices, because extraordinary situations require extraordinary people.
“We must produce our best in physical, tactical, and mental aspects.”
A few hours later, Floriana will be bidding to achieve something extraordinary themselves when they host FC Ballkani at the Centenary Stadium (kick-off: 8.45pm).
Daniel Portela’s Greens have a tough task on their hands as they need to overturn a two-goal deficit from the opening leg.
However, although Floriana did lose the first match, there was enough evidence in that game that the Greens are more than capable of creating problems for their Kosovo opponents.
Last week, Floriana exposed FC Ballkani’s defensive frailties in the first half, twice taking the lead during the match, with their forward Mustapha Jah particularly posing a serious threat with his surging runs that ran ragged the home side.
Still, Floriana need to be more cautious when it comes to defending their goal as time and again this summer, they were let down by their defensive frailties, which have seen them concede some costly goals.
On Thursday night , the Greens need a perfect game to dare to dream of overturning the tie in their favour and the support of their fans at the Centenary Stadium will surely be crucial for the Greens to secure what would be a remarkable achievement in Europe.
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