Ex-defender of the national team of Ukraine Artem Fedetskyi shared his prediction for the second leg of the Europa League playoff round between AEK and Dnipro-1.
Artem Fedetskyi— Artem, did the 1:2 defeat by AEK in the first match significantly complicate the life of Dnipro-1 before the return match?
— Of course, defeat is always a negative, but there is one more game ahead. It is good that the Dnipro team managed to score one goal before the end of the match. Now only one accurate shot separates Oleksandr Kucher's team from a draw, because the away goal rule has been canceled.
Yes, the Cypriots have a better chance to advance to the Europa League group, but the fight is still ahead. Again, the ending of the first match inspires optimism. The main thing is to be less nervous and try to play your game.
— What, in your opinion, is the main reason for the defeat of "Dnipro-1" in the first match?
— There can be many factors here. But to be honest, the war in our country does not allow the players to fully concentrate on football.
— Oleksandr Kucher has a new head coach in Dnipro. Maybe he himself still lacks coaching experience, and that's why this result?
- Hard to tell. Yes, there were different results under Ihor Yovichevich, but then the situation in Ukraine was completely different.
Last year, I saw live matches of "Metalist" under the leadership of Sashko Kucher. I can say that the people of Kharkiv looked very powerful. It was clear that the team was working on roughly the same methodology when Kucher played under Mircea Lucescu at Shakhtar.
Perhaps now the coach did not have enough time to fully implement his work in Dnipro-1, everything takes time. Yes, the first pancake turned out lousy, but it can still be changed.
Once again, Jovićević had time - and he realized his plans. Shakhtar invited him for a reason. But even the Croatian specialist, in his first match at the helm of the new team, could not achieve the maximum result, drawing with Metalist 1925.
— "Dnipro-1" will in any case continue its performances in the European Cups. Relegation from the Europa League will move the team into the Conference League group. Will it be a failure?
- No. The level of the teams there is a little lower, but considering that there is a war in Ukraine, any European competitions will now count against our teams.
For example, the Italian "Roma" under the leadership of Jose Mourinho took this tournament seriously and won the trophy.
— Finally, what will be your prediction for the return match between AEK and Dnipro-1?
— Of course, I want to wish the Ukrainian team success, but for some reason it seems to me that the match will end in a 1:1 draw.
Yaroslav Pyatnytskyi
