Today: UEFA Europa League match in Budapest – MOL Vidi FC vs BATE Borisov

MOL Vidi FC faces BATE Borisov on Thursday evening in the Europa League Group Stage. The first group game will be played at Groupama Arena in Budapest.

BATE train at the Groupama Arena

The Belarusian side had a press conference on Wednesday, which was followed by training.

FK BATE Borisov arrived to Hungary on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s Europa League group stage match. Manager Aleksey Baga and Nemaja Milunovic faced the media.

Aleksey Baga:

“We have watched the games of MOL Vidi FC. They are a strong side that has faced serious opponents like Dudelange, Ludogorets and Malmö and have gone through. We are talking about a well-organised opponent with international players. It will be a difficult game.”

Nemanja Milunovic:

“We have several injured players and Aleksandr Hleb and Nikolai Signevich did not travel with us to Hungary. We will have to face Vidi without them. However, our squad is still strong enough without these players and there are others that will grab the chance and show they have a place in the team. I read in the Serbian papers about Danko Lazovic, but honestly I am not sure that he will end his playing career now or at the end of the season. We need to respect his decision and I wish him lots of luck in the future.”

BATE then held a training session at the Groupama Arena following the press conference. The first 15 minutes were open to the media.

Marko Nikolic: We came here to get results

Manager Marko Nikolic and Máté Pátkai were present on Wednesday afternoon to meet the media.

Marko Nikolic gave his thoughts:

“I am pleased to be sitting here and representing the club and Hungarian football in the Europa League Group Stage. It is important for us to perform at this level. Perhaps a few draws would draw a little bit of attention, but it would not really help us in going through. We have targets both now and long term. We did not come here to mess around, but to pick up results. We are in the middle of a process and not at the end of it. We did not get here by luck and we want to show that we can represent quality that is needed to pick up the challenge against a side like BATE.

The Belarus side have many international players that are experienced. They have a strong past both in Champions League and Europa League football. There have some Serbian players and I know what they are capable of doing, but naturally we have done our work on the whole of their team. I never talk about tactics and I will not do it now. They will be favourites if you just look at the coefficient points. We need to turn the paper form on to its head. I think we are in one of the strongest groups in the Europa League this year. There is no connection at all between the weekend game and the one on Thursday.