Gjoka reveals the team's situation/Shkëmbi: I didn't want this situation with Skënderbeu

2025-04-11 17:31:00, Sport CNA

Gjoka reveals the team's situation/Shkëmbi: I didn't want this

Skënderbeu and Tirana will face each other this Saturday, in what is one of the survival finals at the end of the season.

The challenge in Korça could determine a lot about the future of both teams and for this reason it is expected to be a hard-fought match.

Skënderbeg coach Ernest Gjoka declared that his team is ready, while he did not spare any praise for the opponent.

"The mood is positive, it's a state where the team is recovering psychologically. We're ready for another final."

Only one player may be missing, but he may be ready. It's about Doka, who if he fights with time, he can make it. After January, all the matches have been finals for us. Skënderbeu went through difficult moments. The team has matured a lot and the moment has come for us to know our responsibilities. We are fighting to make sure that Skënderbeu stays in the elite.

Tirana is a team that has done well. The victory in the derby was deserved. Tirana won "easily", because it rarely happens against Partizan with such a result in the derby. I think they are also good and it takes on special importance. It will be a very strong and hard-fought match. Whoever makes the least tactical mistakes, we can win. We will enter the field to give our maximum", declared Gjoka.

On the other hand, Tirana coach Bledi Shkëmbi said that Skënderbeu is doing well, but he wants maximum points from his team.

"Tirana's objective is to win the remaining 3 matches, starting with the next match against Skënderbeg. The most difficult one is the next match against Skënderbeg.

The victory in the derby gave us some peace, it should give us morale and confidence for the next match. I don't trust statistics too much, I know it's a difficult match against Skënderbeg. It's a team that is doing well, has good players and a good team, is playing good football and we have to do our best like in the derby. We have to think about this match in the same way we thought and played against Partizan.

Ernest won't be there. The rest are all the players who were available in the last game.

The team had created a physiognomy with Ernest in attack. A team should not depend on one player and I am convinced that we will do well.

Skënderbeu will also play to win. The calculations for the points are made after the match. The main thing is how it plays and what it wants. For our team, this is important, to have a good match, to try to win it, to take advantage of the chances and to be careful in those minutes that we have had problems almost throughout the championship.

"I wouldn't want us to be in this situation against Skënderbeg. I will do my best and I really want to win this match, to get 3 points, despite the feelings we have for different teams, in this specific case Skënderbeg," Shkëmbi declared.

The Skënderbeu-Tirana match will be played this Saturday, starting at 3:30 PM, at the Korça city stadium.