Ex-midfielder of Dynamo Kyiv Serhiy Kovalets shared his impressions of the first match of his former team against Turkish Fenerbahce (0:0) in the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League, and also assessed the prospects of the White-Blues in the second leg.
Sergey Kovalets— I think this is a good result for Dynamo before the second leg. The team played in an organized and disciplined manner. This result gives us great chances to pass Fenerbahce.
The strength of Dynamo, as Lucescu noted, is teamwork. From myself I will add - also in the coach himself. Lucescu is an experienced coach, he knows how to set up the players. And most importantly, he understood that it was very important not to lose in the first match, because in the strategy of a two-legged confrontation it is very important that there are chances before the return game.
The result of the match in Lodz by game, especially considering that the team has not played official matches for so long, plus they have not yet played in Kyiv. Plus there was good support. The return match, I think, will be more interesting.
— Were you surprised by Dubinchak's appearance on the left in defense? And how do you rate his game?
- He played very confidently, in principle, like the whole team.
- How would you rate Besedin's game in this match?
- We remember what a terrible injury he received. And the fact that he has now recovered, the head coach trusts him, is very good. Perhaps not everything worked out in terms of finishing options or playing along, but this is the first match, it is always nervous.
And in general, knockout matches do not always turn out good. Suffice it to recall the Real Madrid-Liverpool Champions League final, when Ancelotti, who, as he says, took a lot from Lobanovsky, we saw how he built a game against an opponent, on counterattacks, with a very low block, from defense, which brought " creamy" result.
Of course, in the case of Dynamo, I would very much like to see a good game, but the team has been without official matches for eight months. Plus, all the guys are worried about what is happening in Ukraine now, because you can’t get away from the news.
- Who do you see as the favorite before the return game?
- Before the match, Fenerbahce made transfers for about 100 million euros, acquired good players. At the same time, the players were sure that they would beat Dynamo and that they had no secrets from the people of Kiev.
I preferred the Turks before the game, because their psychological state is much better than that of Dynamo, again because of the war, plus the level of the players. But now, in the second leg, if the Turks had been coached by a Turkish specialist during these transfers, he would not have set up the team the way Jesus did. We saw how he shouted at the players to return to the defense, plus the Turks played very disciplined, did not reveal themselves, realizing that there would still be a match in Istanbul.
But there, it seems to me, the match will be more difficult for the Turks, because they will play at home in front of their fans, there will be huge pressure on them, they will have to run forward, because they need to win, while they love beautiful football. And here it is for us that a very good chance appears - to play on a good counterattack with an exit from defense to attack. Before the second leg, we have more chances, I think.
Evgeny Savchuk
