Astana head coach Grigory Babayan spoke about his expectations for the match against Ludogorets.

- We are very familiar with the team, and with Bulgarian football in general. In recent years, a lot of coaches from Bulgaria have worked here. From Ludogorets, there was Georgi Dermendzhiev, who coached the Ordabasy, Joao Paulo, who moved here. May Mahlangu, now Ordabasy still has Jorginho. That is, this is a familiar team, we are always so closely connected. We perfectly know the strength of the opponent. They have been champions for 12 years in a row, playing in the group stages every year. It is clear that they are. a serious team with a very high-quality selection of players. 

We respect them very much, but we have our own tasks, our own plan, and it is very important for us to win tomorrow. I think that psychologically we should be a little easier tomorrow than it was in the last home match. We lost the first game 0:4 and there was a lot of pressure. And now I see that the psychological state of the team has straightened up a bit - it is easier for the guys to prepare, they are in a good state of mind. If everything works out, with the support of our fans, we will win tomorrow.

- Tobol had a situation when Zoran Tosic came out for the last 20-30 minutes and made the difference. Do you also plan to use Marin Tomasov - so that he enters the field when the opposing team gets tired?

First, we have a game plan. There is no point in talking about it now. As for Tosic and Tomasov, when I was at Tobol, Tosic came, I invited him - well, along with the management, respectively. And when he came, he was not ready at all. He was slowly brought down. And when he got into shape, he always played. 

And the fact that Tomasov plays at the starting 11 is a completely different topic. I know this player, I know his strength, and I think that he is a very important player for Astana. It is clear that we all expect more from him. And in the last match, why I changed him and Prokopenko during the break, it was not related to the quality of the game - I directly needed to change the formation, as it was crucial. How we will play tomorrow, I will not talk about it now.

- From the very beginning of the year, your starting line-up has not changed - 80-90% - always the same players. Even all journalists know about it. Do you want to change something in the future?

– We do not change the composition? (laughs) When did you start following? Condric - yes. Well, let's see the ingredients. How did we play with Zagreb? Marochkin came, Vorogovsky played. They started alone - now Lonchar plays, Darabayev played, then Beisebekov played as well. There is always such rotation. Or are you talking about a scheme? And the pattern is constantly changing. Only with Zagreb we tried two schemes - I just said that.

- 14-15 players, no one else changes...

“I don’t have any players anymore. The rest are young. 

- There are players of the Kazakhstan national team who sit on the bench.

- Who?

- You don't know the players?

- Well, you name them. Who are you talking about? They all play. Now Gabyshev ...

– Kuat?

- Kuat was injured. He played all the games! Kuat did not play at the beginning, the first three rounds, and then played all the games! Look at the statistics. Then Gabyshev returned after an injury - he played all the games. Everyone was playing. Of all these players, only Zarutsky received a small amount of time. That's all. But here you need to understand that number one now is Condric. The rest are all playing. I think you are wrong.

- The level of realizing the moments is quite low. Can we improve it?

- Yes, you correctly noted that we have a lot of chances in every match, but not enough - somewhere luck, somewhere skill. But we are working on it. We don't get hung up. I often say to the guys that you don’t need to think about it, you just need to work, and it will come. Even in the last home match against Dinamo Zagreb there were so many chances - the ball just doesn't go into the goal. We hope that tomorrow we will succeed, because we cannot get hung up on this. 

Of course, this is also a matter of psychology - when one ball doesn't hit, the second ball doesn't hit, and you start to lose concentration, confidence disappears. Therefore, I think that psychologically we will be a little better prepared tomorrow than we were in the last match. I hope that the balls will fly into the opponent's goal tomorrow.

- Does the team have the necessary energy that could inspire the players tomorrow?

- Well, I'm talking about this, that psychologically, and this is energy, it has become much easier. The guys somehow loosened up, because there was a lot of pressure before that home match [against Dinamo Zagreb]. Now I see that the guys want to show quality football. There will be a stadium, support. It is clear that the opponent is not easy, but we are not afraid of anyone. We must make sure that we go there with some reserve.

- If Astana passes Ludogorets, then it will go to Ajax. Why do you think Astana is so unlucky with the draw?

- Can not say. Yes, from the very beginning such a very difficult draw, such grandees are all playing teams. I don't know, it's hard to say. Some kind of test must be passed - this is very important for us. Now we need to concentrate on Ludogorets, and then we will think further.

- Have you talked to management about strengthening?

- No, now we already have a limit - 25 players. We can not fire someone up. It is what it is. The guys are trying hard. Three are injured so far.

The general partner of FC Astana is JSC NWF Samruk Kazyna

Partner of FC Astana - CF Fund for Support of the Tourism and Sports Industry