We talked to Maribor's sport director Zlatko Zahović about the most important match of the European club contests. We discussed the Champions League, and summed up the Maribor season.
The most successful Slovenian club placed in the Champions League already in 1999, but that success was followed by a period of failures in Europe. How to avoid the same scenario in future? Zahović answered: "Sport is unpredictable. Poor results can happen, but the organisation and the vision of the club must be kept intact. It is possible for a club to recover quickly after a string of poor results, but a much longer period is required to recover after organisational and financial decline."
Messi is a genius...
Barcelona and Juventus will meet in the finals of the Champions League, which comes as no surprise to Zahović: "You can't get into the finals by accident; only the best manage it. Both are national champions, and boast an unbelievable continuity regardless of their competition. It would be easy to say Barcelona will win - they have Lionel Messi. But I would not write off Juventus; after all the finals are special. The Italians have extraordinary tactical culture, and know how to play for a desired result. Messi makes Barcelona the favourite. At the time Xavi and Iniesta were in the top form I claimed that that version of Barcelona equalled Messi. I was sorely criticized for my words, but it turned out that Barcelona got even better now that Xavi and Iniesta are gone. The time will show."