Alexander Chizhevsky: “Recently, Shaparenko continues to pleasantly surprise. It's hard to imagine Dynamo without him now

Well-known Ukrainian footballer Alexander Chizhevsky in the past in an interview "TEAM1 ” shared his impressions of the return match of the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League between the Austrian Sturm and Dynamo Kyiv (1:2), which took place last Tuesday in Graz. As a reminder, according to the sum of two meetings, the Ukrainian team advanced to the next stage of the tournament.

- Despite the minimal victory in the first match in Lodz, this still allowed the people of Kiev to dictate the conditions in the second leg. Although the guests didn’t do well in the debut, they had to endure, there was even, as they say, an optional conceded goal, but it worked out ... Dynamo found opportunities to seize the initiative and not allow the hosts to build on their success, clearly playing combinations during a positional offensive and running out on counterattacks .

- While the people of Kiev had to play the first matches at home in the confrontations with Fenerbahce and Sturm, which gave a certain advantage to the rivals, who, in the event of overtime, spent 120 minutes at home...

- I would not exaggerate the significance of this fact... In the end, it’s a sin for Dynamo team to blame, because both in Istanbul and yesterday in Graz they tipped the scales in their favor due to their excellent physical condition and fighting spirit just in extra time. You know, I'm not averse to the same situation repeating in the confrontation with Benfica.

- In the second leg with Sturm, did you notice any homework in the actions of the Kiev team?

- No, Dynamo played in its own style, trying to clearly fulfill the coaching instructions. It is also impossible not to note the desire of the people of Kiev in this difficult time to cheer up Ukrainian fans with their victory.

- Among the people of Kiev, someone was different?

- Lately, Nikolai Shaparenko continues to pleasantly surprise me, without whom it is now difficult to imagine Dynamo. So yesterday, he not only managed to cope with dispatching functions, but also worked out in the selection. Real leader.

- Aren't you surprised that this season in Dynamo in official matches defenders and midfielders are marked with effective actions...

- Artem Besedin, put forward at the forefront of the attack, cannot be denied diligence, he does a large amount of running work, but this is not enough. The mission of the central striker is to complete the partners' efforts with accurate shots. Unfortunately, Artyom has serious problems with this. And this adds a headache to the leader Mircea Lucescu.

— To be honest, in the confrontation with Sturm, who did you prefer?

- "Dynamo"! And after the first match, I thought that the people of Kiev would go further without much tension. We should pay tribute to Sturm, which, with the support of the fans, resisted and only more experience in international fights allowed the Ukrainian club to achieve what they wanted.

Vasily MIKHAILOV