Well-known Ukrainian coach Igor Yavorsky shared his impressions of the Champions League qualifying play-off second leg match between Portuguese Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv (3:0), which took place last Tuesday in Lisbon.
Igor Yavorsky- In the second leg, I saw that the defense players, and Sidorchuk, who joined them, played Buschan as a striker, - said the specialist. — How is it possible, in any attack, to give the ball back to the goalkeeper all the time?
Benfica played the match at home very intensively. We have all seen that Dynamo Kyiv players cannot play a match with such intensity. It is clear that Dynamo players have been on the road for two months because of the war. In addition, the Ukrainian Premier League has not yet started for them. Game practice, as we see, is very important. I am sure that every Benfica player is stronger than his opponent from Dynamo. I'm talking about the class of a football player. In the playoff games, the people of Kiev showed their maximum.
- Already in the first half, Benfica players scored three goals. Was it possible for Dynamo to show their best football when there is no particular tension?
- Probably, but again they tried to play all the attacks through their goalkeeper. Why do this? On the football field, we see that the Portuguese work great with the ball, easily beat their opponent. Our players cannot act like this. They need to handle the ball three times and after that they may pass to a partner. So, Benfica won this match and all the confrontation in the class.
— What are the future prospects of Dynamo?
- For them, the Ukrainian Premier League is now starting. With all the problems of Kiev, they will be the favorites of the season. They have both experienced players and youngsters who have worn themselves out in European competitions. On the example of the game Shakhtar — Metalist 1925 (0:0), we see that other UPL leaders have even more problems.
- It turns out that Dynamo is even better at playing in the Europa League than in the most important club tournament?
— Undoubtedly. The draw is very important here. I would like not to get an opponent from England. But in the current Europa League, Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham will play. Against these teams, there is no chance of success. In the best European championships, the intensity of the games is completely different.
— At least someone was a bright spot in Dynamo's game against Benfica?
- Many experts call the leaders of Dynamo Sidorchuk and Shaparenko. But in Lisbon they played with 90% of the marriage. In my opinion, they did not make a single accurate flank pass. The guys made elementary mistakes. All the time there are programs for Buschan, but he warmed up even in training, before the game. We have what we have. I'm sure it won't get better. We are now at war. Good foreigners will not come to us, but their own players... We see their level.
- An inaccurate pass by Sirota to his own penalty area led to the second conceded goal. Is this mistake the same as Tsygankov's a week ago?
- Yes. All our defenders automatically throw the ball to the goalkeeper, shifting the responsibility to him. Everyone seems to want to have the ball like Barcelona. But, I want to note that Barcelona has the ball in their own half of the field. Risk at your gate is not needed. And we must thank the hosts for forgiving us several times.
- How do you like Besedin's game?
- As always. They did not see him in the attack. And when defending, he allowed us to hit on our goal. Once Bushchan saved us, but the second time Otamendi did not forgive us. I remember my emotions - for the first 20 minutes it was embarrassing to watch the game of Dynamo Kyiv. When Benfica scored a couple of goals, the hosts calmed down a bit. Of course, the match needs to be analyzed, because the situation for our team is not pleasant.
