Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu answered journalists' questions in Krakow on the eve of the match of the 2nd round of the Europa League group stage between the Kyiv club and AEK from Larnaca.
Mircea Lucescu (photo: Oksana Vasileva)— How important is this game to you?
- This is a very important match. After the defeat in Istanbul, we need to win in order to continue the fight for entry into the spring part of the European season.
The game does not promise to be easy, it will be a difficult match for us. The opponent has absolutely all of his players at his disposal, while many of our players are out of action. I have to repeat every time that we are not based anywhere and every three days we move to a new place. But we will continue to fight for points and exit from the group.
I think that AEK Larnaca is a very good team with foreign players. In fact, they now have only one Cypriot player - Nikos Englezou. I don't know if he will play against us. As for the rest of the players, legionnaires, many of them have a great career behind them, they played in strong championships. AEK played very good matches in the current European season, in the Champions League qualification and in the Europa League. In particular, they knocked out Partizan in the LE, drew with Midtjylland twice in the Champions League. They also had a good match against Rennes.
As for our team, we arrived here from Lviv. The road here took about seven hours. I hope that tomorrow they will cheer for us here, that Ukrainians who live in Krakow, as well as Polish football fans who wish to watch the Europa League match, will come to the game.
— Obviously, you have already studied AEK. What strengths in the team's game would you point out and which of the players would you single out?
- AEK has good players in midfield - the Spaniards, the Portuguese, in particular Oyer Sanjurjo and Gus Ledes. On the defensive side are Serb Tomovic and Bosnian Milicevic, who played in the Italian championship for a long time. Also Spaniard Mikkel Gonzalez, who played in La Liga for a long time, having played many games at a high level. The rest of the players are also high level. I watched the matches of AEK against Dnipro-1. I understand that we need to prepare for a very difficult match.
— How will the loss of Shaparenko affect your team?
- We lost not only Shaparenko. We also lost Denis Popov, who was injured in the match against Dnipro-1. This is a very important player for our team. Like Shaparenko, like Bushchan. George was operated on yesterday. He won't help us for a month and a half. Shaparenko will be out of the game for about seven months. We also cannot count on Shepelev, who was injured in the match against Fenerbahce.
We had a very difficult match in Istanbul. I repeat, I don’t understand why the Fenerbahce players behaved this way. As I said in Istanbul, this match was like a bullfight. I understand when a team plays with a similar attitude with a principal rival in its championship, but I don’t understand where such enmity came from at the international level. I think that international matches should be held more correctly. Fans at the stadium threw various things on the field. This not normal. In European competitions, they must be held according to the principle of fair play - fair play. Teams from different countries should create a performance on the field, a show for fans, not a battle. I was very disappointed with that game. We have lost three main players. In addition, it is not easy for us due to constant moving. We drive 11 hours before one game, 7 hours before another, after which the players must maintain their high level of play. I want the teams to demonstrate the principles of fair play in these matches.
— Mr. Lucescu, you are one of the most experienced coaches. How to maintain the psychological mood of football players in such difficult conditions?
- It is not simple. We made a mistake because we did not organize a base in one place where players could bring their families, be with him, train there, and travel to matches from there. Instead, we move to a new location every three days. It's very hard. We must talk to the players, explain to them that they are professional football players and must do their job for themselves, for their families, for the club, for Ukraine. They must feel this responsibility. This is not easy under the current conditions, but we need to continue to do it. This difficult period will end sooner or later, but it is important to stay at a high level.
