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Shirak Looking No Further Than Tre Penne Test

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  • Shirak Looking No Further Than Tre Penne Test

    SHIRAK LOOKING NO FURTHER THAN TRE PENNE TEST

    UEFA.com
    July 1 2013

    Published: Monday 1 July 2013, 15.03CET

    "We will not be thinking about who the favourites are," said FC Shirak
    coach Vardan Bichakhchyan as the Armenian champions prepare to face
    SP Tre Penne from San Marino.

    FC Shirak coach Vardan Bichakhchyan has warned his players not to
    let their guards down as the Armenian title holders prepare to get
    the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League under way.

    Shirak will welcome Sammarinese side SP Tre Penne to the Gyumri City
    Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, the first of 213 games in a competition
    that culminates in Lisbon on 24 May. At the tenth time of asking
    Shirak won their first tie in UEFA competition last season, edging
    out FK Rudar Pljevlja 2-1 on aggregate to reach the second qualifying
    round of the UEFA Europa League.

    They are expected to repeat the feat against Tre Penne, but
    Bichakhchyan is taking nothing for granted. "We will not be thinking
    about who the favourites are because we know nothing about them,"
    he said. "We might need to do some scouting during the game itself."

    Tre Penne may know a little more about Shirak and their revival since
    former player Bichakhchyan took the reins two years ago. He led them
    to their maiden Armenian Cup in his first season and while they lost
    the final last term, there was ample consolation in the form of a
    fourth championship at the end of a marathon 42-game transitional
    campaign. Armenia have switched to a winter league, eyeing European
    gains.

    There was some 12 months ago and they covet more this, with a
    mouth-watering tie against FK Partizan the prize for beating Tre
    Penne. Bichakhchyan says the Belgrade giants would be "very strong
    opponents", but refuses to be drawn into more lengthy ruminations:
    his focus is on Tre Penne. "The second qualifying round? We need to
    get past the first one for starters. Our players must not underestimate
    them; we must keep our concentration and focus."

    Meanwhile, Tre Penne arrived in Armenia in the early hours of Sunday
    and coach Marco Protti is keen to let his players acclimatise to the
    conditions. "We'll try to defend strongly to avoid them pushing us
    back, but we will have an eye on the counterattack," he said. "The
    weather is really warm and this will make things more difficult for
    us, because they will play at full speed."

    The Sammarinese club are likely to be without central defender Vladimir
    Mikhaylovskiy, who is suffering from a virus, and will hand a debut
    to new signing and goalkeeper Gianmarco Pazzini in place of Federico
    Valentini.

    http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1967880.html

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