Milsami Orhei will play its first match of the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League in the evening of July 14. Iurie Osipenko’s pupils meet Bulgaria’s champion Ludogorets away, IPN reports.
The last season, Ludogorets played in the Champions League groups after eliminating Steaua in the playoffs. In the group phase, the Bulgarian team scored four points, winning a victory against Basel and drawing with Liverpool.
“We know we are outsiders, but this does not give us reasons not to struggle for the slim chance offered to us by others,” Milsami captain Romeo Surdu told a news conference. “Any player of Ludogorets has a weight. They have many powerful individual footballers. We can expect anything from each of them,” said coach Iurie Osipenco.
The game starts at 8:45pm. Milsami will not include only halfback Eugen Slivca, who suffered an injury during the training in Odessa. Ludogorets has a suspended player - halfback Marcelinho. The presence of four footballers is indefinite. These include the recently signed Romanian player Andrei Prepelita. The return match will be played in Orhei on July 21, at 6pm.