“Persepolis Still Has Chance to Qualify” – Branko Ivankovic

Tasnim – TEHRAN, Newly-appointed Persepolis of Iran coach Branko Ivankovic said they have still a chance to advance to the AFC Champions League knock-out stage.

Persepolis lost to Lekhwiya of Qatar 3-0 in Group A of the AFC Champions League and now must beat Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor on May 6 in Tehran.

“We still have a chance to qualify from the group as we have an important match against Bunyodkor. The defeat affected our chances and that is why we should study our mistakes and fix them before the final match,” Branko said in the post-match news conference.

“We suffered a tough and unexpected defeat because we lost concentration in the last minutes of the match.

“We tried our best to make a good comeback after the first goal, but this left some space which was used well by Lekhwiya,” Ivankovic said.

Lekhwiya coach Michael Laudrup said that they have earned a great victory over Iran’s Persepolis in the AFC Champions League.

“The result was great because we managed to avenge our defeat against Persepolis in the previous match,” said the former Swansea City manager. “We had great determination to win the match and studied our opponent well in order to get this result.

“It took us a long time to score but the most important thing is that we got a big victory. I believe that we are now closer to qualifying for the knockout stage and hopefully we can continue with the same spirit and determination to achieve our targets,” former Denmark striker added.