Ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Conference League third qualifying round first leg against Dinamo City, FK Auda head coach Didier Zanetti emphasized the importance of staying focused and avoiding complacency after the club’s memorable elimination of Romanian giants FCSB.
With only a few days separating the two European ties, Zanetti admitted preparation time has been limited but believes his team is ready for another difficult challenge.
“We have a lot of respect for Dinamo. They are a strong team and tomorrow will not be an easy game, but we also have the quality to cause them problems,” the French coach said.
One of Zanetti’s biggest concerns is ensuring his young squad does not underestimate the Albanian side after their stunning success against FCSB.
“My job is to protect the players and remind them that we haven’t achieved anything yet. We played two excellent matches against FCSB, but we haven’t won a title. If we want to continue writing this club’s history, we have to prove ourselves again.”
He added that some people still see the victory over the Romanian champions as a one-off result rather than a reflection of Auda’s quality.
“Many people still think what happened in Bucharest was just luck. Now we have another opportunity to show that it wasn’t.”
Following the victory over FCSB, Auda’s coaching staff immediately shifted their attention to Dinamo City. Instead of reviewing the previous tie, the squad began analysing their next opponents straight away. According to Zanetti, Dinamo City present a very different challenge.
“They play as a real team. They are well organised defensively, have experienced players in midfield and a different tactical structure. We’ll need to adapt in a few areas, but our objective remains the same – we want to control possession, press high and dictate the game.”
Although this is Zanetti’s first European campaign as a head coach, he believes modern analysis tools have reduced the importance of previous continental experience.
“Today you have access to so much information through video analysis. My staff watched four or five of Dinamo’s matches and prepared a detailed report. Experience matters during the game, but for preparing a match, the information is there.”
The Auda boss also believes opening the tie at home places extra responsibility on his players. “We have to stay in control. We cannot let emotions or the atmosphere make us play a crazy game. We need to manage the match correctly because we still have a second leg.”
On the squad situation, Zanetti confirmed that Ibrahim Husseini remains unavailable and will not be risked, while Eduards Dašķevičs, despite managing an injury, is available for selection. “Edu is a warrior. Sometimes he plays through pain, but he is ready. We will manage his minutes if necessary.”
Zanetti also praised the development of his squad since the beginning of the season, highlighting the emergence of leaders within the dressing room.
“At the start of the season I had to lead almost everything myself. Now we have leaders on the pitch like Eduards Dašķevičs, Nils Puriņš, Edvin Bongemba, Barthelemy Diedhiou and Tin Hrvoj, who react before I even need to. That is probably the biggest difference compared to the start of the year.”
Auda host Dinamo City on Tuesday evening at Skonto Stadium, looking to take another step towards a historic place in the UEFA Conference League play-off round.
