Perković: There is no such thing as a bad rival - we had to prepare well for Buducnost

Last year they played in the group stage of the Conference League, this season Noa's goals are bigger, said the coach of the Armenian champion, Sandro Perković, ahead of today's (18) first match of the first round of Champions League qualifying against Buducnost.

"The goals in Noa are always the biggest, but we have to go step by step. Our focus is currently only on the first match against Buducnost. The Champions League is the best competition in the world. There is no bad rival, we had to prepare well for Buducnost and I believe we succeeded in that," said Perković at yesterday's press conference.

Perković succeeded Rui Mota as coach of Noa. He managed the junior categories of the Austrian Sturm, worked in Cyprus, and coached the Latvian Riga. He spent most of his career at Dinamo Zagreb, where he was on the coaching staff of Željko Kopić, Ante Čačić, Igor Bišćan, Sergej Jakirović, Nenad Bjelica, and Fabio Cannavaro.

"We didn't have much time, but football is similar everywhere. The language of football is universal, things happen quickly. I've become close to the players and I don't think that will be a problem," said Perković.

In goal for the Armenian champion will be Ognjen Čančarević, who arrived at Nou two years ago.

"The first game is always the hardest. We don't know exactly what to expect from ourselves or from Buducnost. But I'm sure we'll give 100 percent to win. We had enough time to prepare, many players from last season remained, we have a very high-quality team and that's why I think we can easily adapt to any new style. Our coach came from a team that played in the Champions League and I would like us to adopt his mentality, to reach the group stage of a European competition together," said Čančarević.