Well-known football expert and former Dynamo striker Viktor Leonenko shared his prediction for the confrontation between Kyiv and Benfica in the Champions League playoffs.
Viktor Leonenko— Bookmakers don't even surprise my cats. Firstly, Benfica is a smarter and more serious club. And secondly, the Portuguese championship cannot be compared with our championship. Why do Benfica have more chances? Calculate how many chances we created in four games - several chances in extra time. Also count how many chances Besedin created - one shot from Fenerbahce.
Only luck will help us, if one of the defenders of Benfica brings the goalkeeper or cheats, or the referee makes a mistake. You can randomly beat anyone. Suddenly, someone's knee will save again. After the first game, it will be possible to predict what will happen in the second. Dynamo will play defensively in this match. Who will give us the ball? This will be our selection day. If the team has no chances, this is a monstrous problem.
— What could be the advantage of Dynamo?
- If someone is sent off at Benfica and immediately a penalty kick, and then someone else is sent off, then maybe there will be some kind of advantage. When the Fenerbahce player was sent off, even then, in fact, we did not have an advantage. For some reason, everyone also forgot about Sturm, when they could kick out Kendzera at the beginning of the game, and Popov in the 63rd minute. And about the rescue by Bushchan, I generally keep silent. These are problems of defense and luck, but the luck may end - Buschan may not be saved.
The advantage of all the Portuguese giants is that they miss little. We can also concede few goals, but goalkeepers become heroes. I believe that the advantage is always with the technical team. And the Portuguese and Brazilians are practically the same thing.
— Who from Kiev can make a difference?
- There are no such people for a long time. And so anyone can pull it out, but this is after the standard, he scored - so he pulled it out for you, and then they fought back. Dynamo did not have a single match for someone to stand out or read the game. This is because Bushchan was saving. Do you know why no one is growing here? Because there is no leader! It is unrealistic to learn from Besedin, Tsygankov either plays or is injured. And so on for all positions. I believe that Buyalsky is the most dangerous player in Dynamo. Shaparenko, like many Dynamo players, I don't like yet. Our Buschan was the best in four games! What to talk about?
— What is the most problematic position of the people of Kiev?
- First, attack. Attack is always rest for defense. And our defense is not resting. I'm not going to say anything bad about Besedina. He makes volume, but his TTD is small - you can at least get some volume here! It turns out that he is an athlete - he went out and ran. Why the hell does he need this volume if you don’t give back and score goals?! The coach can prepare, but the players always decide on the field. The coach will not make moments for you. I always try to get into the heads of attacking players that they should have at least two or three chances.
— What is your forecast?
- Everything is simple for me. The heroes will win, however, the second game will either have to be played in a draw or something like that. If they lose, well, this is Benfica, they are stronger. The excuse is ready. And now it’s still fashionable to say: count how much the players cost there. But money does not always play football, as evidenced by the match between Brentford and Manchester United (4:0). Plus, there will also be an ironclad excuse that we do not play at home (Lucescu already noted this) and Benfica are stronger.
Andrey Piskun
