“That shows the huge pressure football puts on our shoulders”

This morning, Romanian football was shaken by the passing away of the Romanian coach who brought the Champions Cup to Bucharest, Emeric Ienei, and the Cypriot also expressed his regret in this regard. The A1 of the red-blues also remembered what happened in Serbia, with Mladen Zizovic, the coach of Radnicki, who died during the most recent match in the championship. He gave an emotional speech at the start of the conference, emphasizing the idea of ​​living in the moment.

About the game, Charalambous said that he does not expect an easy encounter, but the recent European pedigree of the red-blues could be an advantage, being convinced that if his team will practice 100% of the football they are preparing, a positive result is on the cards.

• FC Basel – FCSB is scheduled on Thursday, from 19:45, at “St. Jakob-Park”. Special reporters Remus Dinu and Cezar Titor are in Switzerland and provide the Gazeta readers with the most relevant information before the Europa League match.

Elias Charalambous: “When things like this happen, we realize what's really important in life”

“First of all, I want to express my condolences to Iena's family. He was a legend of this country. He achieved something that I think no one else will ever achieve: to win the Champions League and qualify the national team for the World Cup in 1990. It is a very sad moment for us.

Also, another sad situation happened with Mladen Zizovic, a colleague of ours from Serbia. That shows, sometimes, the huge pressure that football puts on our shoulders. It is not easy, there are difficult moments, and these are the ones that make us understand what is really important in life. For me, the other things don't have the same weight anymore. When tragedies like this happen, we realize how precious life is, how little moments matter, and how important it is to live each day as if it were our last.

I also want to congratulate our juniors, who won the Youth League today and took another step towards the next phase. Congratulations to them, the coaches, everyone involved for this performance. We have to live in the present, because every moment counts,” Charalambous said at the start of the press conference in Basel.

We meet a very good team. We've analyzed them many times and we know we're going to have to suffer tomorrow night, but we've come prepared for it. We didn't just come to play, we believe a lot in our chance, although we know how difficult the match will be. However, we have shown that we can be competitive at this level. We have to be 100% from the first to the last whistle and I hope we can show that ambition tomorrow.

All parties are very important to us. By winning matches, you also gain confidence. A lot can happen in 90 minutes, but we have high expectations and will try to give everything tomorrow. I hope we have a great European night even if we are playing away.

We have our style of play, and that doesn't change whether we're playing at home or away. We will press high, we will try to have possession. In Europe, the level is higher, but we will not change our principles.

– Elias Charalambous, analysis of those from Basel