Former striker of the Ukrainian national team Oleksandr Palyanitsa in an interview "TEAM1 ” shared his impressions of the first match of the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League between Dynamo Kyiv and Austrian Sturm (1:0).
Alexander Palyanitsa- After a rather unexpected departure from Dynamo before the match with Sturm of Slovenian Benjamin Verbic for the Greek Panathinaikos, the Kiev team had problems on the left flank of the midfield...
- You know, by and large, Verbic in recent years has not played, as they say, the role of the first violin, and therefore one should not exaggerate his importance. Now, if for some reason Nikolai Shaparenko could not enter the field, then it really would not be good, because I don’t even know who would take on the duties of a dispatcher.
Although the injury to Viktor Tsygankov during the warm-up, which prevented him from taking part in the match, no doubt gave the leader Mircea Lucescu a headache. But in an extreme situation, the Romanian specialist made the right decision, trusting Alexander Karavaev, who was one of the best on the field, scoring the decisive goal.
- This cannot but rejoice, especially considering that the beginning of the fight was behind "Sturm"...
- For a long time, Dynamo did not manage to get out of the pressure of Sturm, they had to adopt long passes, but they were ineffective, because Artem Besedin, who was put forward at the forefront of the attack, could not catch the ball, and therefore the nominal owners could not push back their push back . penalty area. Fortunately, the guests missed twice from advantageous positions.
- Then thanks to what did the people of Kiev manage to seize the initiative?
— They should have started to possess the ball more often, as it turned out that the guests do not always have time to close the free zones in their half of the field. Added confidence to the Dynamo team and Karavaev's goal, scored in the middle of the first half.
- You once had to play in Austria. "Sturm" demonstrates the style inherent in the teams of this country?
- Austrian clubs, following the example of their German neighbors, have always been distinguished by a good organization of the game. Another thing is that the level of their performers was significantly lower than that of the same Germans, and therefore one could only dream of high-profile victories in the international arena. I believe that "Sturm" in Lodz did not surprise with anything and acted as expected from it.
- If we compare Sturm with the previous opponent of the Kyivans in the Champions League qualification - Fenerbahce, who would you prefer?
- Since only the first match was played, it is too early to generalize something. Although, in my opinion, Fenerbahce gave the impression of a more qualified team.
- You have already said about Karavaev, who, in your opinion, was one of the best on the field. Who else would be singled out among the Dynamo players?
- The fact that the people of Kiev managed to take the ball under their control is a great merit of Nikolay Shaparenko, but yesterday Dynamo were a strong team. In the end, they also pleased with their solidarity and fighting spirit in the fights with Fenerbahce, in which many experts rated the chances of the Turks higher. The more pleasant this success.
- How would you advise Dynamo players to act in the confrontation in Graz?
- In Lodz, for the victory, the people of Kiev needed one accurate shot on target at the Sturm goal. That's why the people of Kiev need to work on correcting the sight. You should also be ready for the onslaught of the opponent in the opening. Fans of Sturm are not as stubborn as those of Fenerbahce, but they will definitely drive their team forward, set up to attack with great forces.
Sturm has a lot of young people who do not yet have experience in European Cup battles, and in case of sharp counterattacks, Dynamo will have opportunities to score. On the other hand, the people of Kiev were not sinless when backing up, and in Graz they needed to play more reliably at their own possessions. This will also be the key to success.
By the way, when I played in Austria for LASK, then Sturm was also in sight, but I managed to force the goalkeeper of the team from Graz to capitulate. I hope that the Dynamo team will be able to find the shortest path to the Sturm goal and will be able to achieve the desired result.
Vasily MIKHAILOV
