Former striker of Shakhtar Donetsk and the national team of Ukraine Andriy Vorobey in an interview "TEAM1 » assessed the prospects of Ukrainian clubs in the group stages of the European Cup tournaments of the current season.
— Andrey, despite the war in Ukraine, our teams are represented in all European group rounds. Isn't everything so bad?
- I agree. But the quality of the game leaves much to be desired. What we will do there is another question. Fortunately, Shakhtar got into the group stage of the Champions League. I wanted Dynamo to be there too.
But whether the Ukrainian teams are ready for such tests is a question. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that there is a war going on in the country, many high-quality legionnaires left, our teams did not have match practice at the official level, and then immediately European cups. It remains only to hope that our guys do not hit their faces in the dirt.
— By the way, what can we expect from the current Shakhtar in the Champions League?
— This question is very difficult to answer. The team is at the stage of formation. After the departure of the Brazilians, the Pitmen now have a young unplayed team. Shakhtar is strengthening mainly at the expense of its former pupils, but, unfortunately, it will no longer be the same Shakhtar that competed in the Champions League in previous years. We will all hope, but I think that this year we should not count on any super results.
- Is Dynamo the favorite of its group in the Europa League?
- How to say - favorite? Yes, Mircea Lucescu's wards foaled from the first basket, but considering how the Kyiv team looked against the background of Benfica, it's worth considering. Yes, Dynamo is now the most well-played team of all Ukrainians, but, with Fenerbahce, the White-Blues were lucky somewhere, Sturm was beaten without question. In the Europa League, you need to meet Fenerbahce again. And I'm sure it will be a completely different team.
- Dnipro-1, which lost to the Cypriot team in the playoff round of the Europa League without any options, will it be able to surprise in the Conference League group?
- Not sure. In Dnipro-1, in essence, there is a new team, a new coach. There is no relationship, there is not enough teamwork, preparation... Although the Dnipro group is visually capable. But when you lose to AEK with almost no options, many questions remain.
— What will be your prediction for the final places of the teams in the group rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League?
- I want the best for Shakhtar, but, in my opinion, in the current situation it would be good for the miners to break into the Europa League in the spring, that is, take third place.
"Dynamo"? I would like to believe that the people of Kiev will cling to at least the second place in their Europa League quartet and advance to the playoffs of the tournament.
As for Dnepr-1, it is very difficult to predict anything here. For two matches with AEK, I did not understand the game of Dnipro. It remains to be hoped that Oleksandr Kucher's wards will be able to create a sensation, and this will be a place no higher than the second...
Sergey DEMYANCHUK