Today, the match of the final, 6th round of the Europa League between Dynamo Kyiv and Turkish Fenerbahce will take place. A day earlier, in Krakow, Poland, where this meeting will be held, the pre-match press conference was given by the head coach of the Istanbul team, Jorge Jesus.
“A lot of time has passed since the first match against Dynamo in the Europa League. Since then, our team has changed, we have become stronger, much better. But in any case, the rivals know each other very well. There are no secrets either for Fenerbahce about Dynamo, but for Dynamo about Fenerbahce there are no secrets.
As for the opponent, Dynamo is an excellent team that was the favorite of our group at the beginning of the tournament. Now the situation is different due to many factors, but on Thursday our opponent will play for his honor and dignity. Therefore, the upcoming game will be very difficult for us: we are aware that Dynamo will strive to win at any cost. At the same time, our goal is to win and take first place in the group.
I think we had a great group stage, but it is still unclear who will be the winner of our group - Fenerbahce or Rennes. Even if we beat Dynamo, this still does not guarantee us first place. In addition, we must take into account that Rennes plays at home and against a weaker team than us. So in the match with Dynamo, not only the winning result, but the number of goals scored will come to the fore.
We will strive to finish first, because then we will directly reach the 1/8 finals of the Europa League. At the same time, the team that takes second place in the group will not only have to play in the 1/16 finals, but also against teams from the Champions League. So there is a big difference between first and second place in the group. We will do our best to win the group,” said Jesus.