After losing to Fenerbahce in the first round of the Europa League group stage, Dynamo Kiev will try to take points with Cypriot AEK. Former White-Blues striker Oleg Salenko shared his views on the upcoming meeting.
Oleg Salenko. Photo — V.Rasner, komandaonline.com- After a good start in the Champions League qualification, now Dynamo is mostly disappointing. What is it connected with?
— It is difficult to say what is happening with the people of Kiev. In the first matches of the Champions League, Dynamo looked good, but then something broke, leading players began to get injured.
Probably, there was a load in physical work. It's good that we managed to win the last game in the championship so that the team's morale would somehow rise.
However, now it’s even difficult for me to imagine what squad Mircea Lucescu will put up for the match against AEK. There will be another goalkeeper, Nikolay Shaparenko, who was the leading figure in Dynamo's offensive actions, will not be able to play.
And if we are thinking about how to play with the weakest opponent in our group, then it's time to think about what to do with the Dynamo team...
- How can you overcome the not-so-best psychological state of the team, which Dynamo is probably in right now?
- As the game with Lvov showed, the people of Kiev are not in the best physical condition. Benfica scored five goals in two matches, Dnipro-1 - three, Zorya - three, Fenerbahce - two. I don’t remember that in five matches the white-blues conceded 13 goals.
Although in the match with the Turks, the character of the "Dynamo" was still present. Yes, a little bit was not enough, but I want to believe that things will get better soon.
- How should the capital club play in the confrontation with AEK?
- From the first minutes, you need to go forward and put pressure on your opponent. If we let go of such matches, we can forget about leaving the group. However, we do not want to consider such a development of events.
I believe that Dynamo will regain its former strength. There is a tense atmosphere in the club at the moment. And if you fail to get into the playoffs of the tournament, you will probably have to change something in the team.
We need to do everything to beat AEK. A draw, in my opinion, is also not an option. In terms of the class of performers, the people of Kiev are head and shoulders above their opponent.
- What will be your prediction for the Dynamo - AEK match?
- I hope that the series of indistinct matches will end, and Dynamo will approach its at least good condition. I bet on 2:0.
Yaroslav PYATNITSKY
