Last week was marked by European Cup matches, after which Ukraine's representatives finally boasted of certain achievements.
"Dynamo overcame the Greek barrier and will now play Turkish side Besiktas in the Conference League play-offs. In the same tournament, Dnipro-1 will continue to compete in the group stage, having said goodbye to the Europa League with a draw in Kosice.
Photo by Alexander PopovDynamo's motivation
Unlike the Dnipro team, who lost 0-3 to local side Slavia in Prague, the Kyiv team had an easier task. After all, in Thessaloniki, they lost to Aris by a minimum of one point and retained their chances of overcoming the third round of selection.
Another thing is that Mircea Lucescu's team had to prepare for the return match under enormous pressure. Both the head coach and his players were under immense pressure. The day before, many insiders predicted that the Romanian specialist would resign in the event of a fiasco in Bucharest. However, the experienced coach is not fazed by such accusations.
"You, the press, always want to be ahead of the curve, to ask questions that are convenient for you to ask. But at the same time, you don't know much, you don't know what my contract is, what my agreements with the club president are. Yes, there is pressure, of course. But we shouldn't forget that our team has a large number of pupils and almost no legionnaires. Our young people need to adapt and gain experience, and this happens through matches. I am ready for pressure. We are preparing for the upcoming matches in any conditions," the 78-year-old coach was quoted as saying by Ua-football.com (16.08.23).
However, the psychological atmosphere in the team left much to be desired. Before leaving for Thessaloniki, one of Dynamo's players asked to go home to bury his brother, who died in the war. This had a significant impact on the general mood. Of course, in such circumstances and in this difficult time, it is difficult to adjust the players, because each of them has pain and loss in their hearts. Nevertheless, the coaching staff managed to charge the team for the match at Dzhuleshta. Words of support from fans and former players also helped.
For example, former Kyiv midfielder Viktor Tsygankov, who now plays for Spanish side Girona, appealed to Ukrainian fans to support the White and Blues in Bucharest.
"Dear Ukrainians! In these difficult times, we must all be together. Therefore, I ask you, if you have the opportunity, to support Dynamo on Thursday in the match against Aris at the Rapida Stadium. The guys definitely need your support.Take care ofyourselves and glory to Ukraine," Tsygankov said in a video message published by Dynamo's press service.
The Kyiv team was further motivated by an incident that occurred during their first game in Greece. Then Aris fans committed a shameful act. In the first minutes of the match, they hung banners on the stand with the words "Defeat the Nazis of Azov" and "Kick the Nazis out of football". After some time, the banners were removed from the home team's stands to avoid UEFA sanctions.
"Thesituation in Greece with Aris fans, who hung a rag with a provocative inscription defaming the honour of Azov fighters, was very ugly.This should also motivate Dynamo fans, especially the Ukrainian players. This should not even be an additional motivation, but the main one: to win, to defend the honour of Dynamo, Ukraine and Azov.
Dynamo must win, and they will not be forgiven or understood for any other result than victory. Dynamo's motivation for the match against Aris should be maximised," said Artem Fedetskyi, a former defender of the Ukrainian national team (Ukrfootball.ua, 17.08.23).
Mircea Lucescu also did not hide the fact that he was waiting for a decent reaction from his wards. And the players gave it!
Justice was done
"The White and Blues managed to overcome their first European Cup round this season. On character, nerves and not without the intervention of luck. The saving goal for Dynamo came in the 85th minute thanks to Lucescu's jokers. Oleksandr Andrievskyi made a great diagonal pass to Oleksandr Karavayev, who scored a clear shot. It came down to a penalty shootout, in which Kyiv were more accurate.
Yes, the victory, as the media noted, was a nail-biter, with a terrible nerve. But such a success, given all the circumstances and realities, is special.
"They did it! On character, on willpower! For themselves, for the coach, for the fans!" Serhiy Sytnyk did not hide his emotions after the final whistle on the electronic pages of Footboom1.com (17.08.23).
"It's very simple: many people will again make faces, remembering the semi-finals of the Champions League. Awareness of your place in reality and the ability to rejoice today is the most necessary and useful thing! And believe me, I know what I'm talking about: Lobanovskyi would have signed with both hands to these words of mine," said Artem Frankov, a well-known journalist and editor-in-chief of Football magazine, on his Telegram channel following the confrontation with Aris (18.08.23).
Jozsef Szabo, the former coach of Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team, and now a football expert, also speaks about the importance of success. The specialist is often critical of the capital's club, but this time, despite the team's inexpressive performance, he pays tribute to them.
"Against the backdrop of Dnipro-1 and Vorskla's unsuccessful performances in the European Cups, I wanted Dynamo to get past Aris, and I was rooting for Kyiv. When the penalty shootout started, of course, there were a lot of nerves. I must pay tribute to Dynamo for their will to win. Still, after Aris opened the scoring, the Greeks already had a two-goal lead, so the psychological pressure on the Kyiv team was decent.
However, the guys rallied and levelled the game, equalising the score... I believe that God helped Dynamo to get past Aris, because in the first game in Greece the referee awarded a left-handed penalty to Dynamo, so now in the return game justice was done. I was confident that Dynamo would go further, because the score of the first match allowed me to watch the second match with optimism," Sabo told Sport.ua (18.08.23).
It is noteworthy that by defeating Aris, Kyiv broke the record-breaking winless streak in European competitions for Ukrainian clubs, which amounted to nine matches (one draw and eight defeats).
In addition, for the second time in its history, Dynamo had to take part in a penalty shootout in club tournaments under the auspices of UEFA. Thanks to the skill of Heorhiy Bushchan, who parried Jonathan Menendez's shot and "scared" Moses Odubayo, who sent the ball over the top of the goal, Kyiv again, like 25 years ago in a match against Czech side Sparta in the 1998/99 Champions League qualifiers, drew a lucky ticket. In total, it was the 11th series for the Ukrainian envoys, in which our teams managed to win only four. And two of them were won by the one hundred per cent "white and blue"!
"Azov. Heroes of Ukraine"
After Dynamo's victory in the penalty shootout, passions raged for a long time around the match, which ended in a scuffle on the football pitch and a scandal at the press conference. The White and Blues players ran towards the opposite half of the pitch, where Aris' away fans were located. Celebrating the victory, Dynamo players showed their support for the soldiers of the heroic Azov regiment, against whom local ultras had hung a banner in the first game. This provoked a brawl between the participants of the match.
Obviously, the Greek journalists, like the fans, could not accept Aris' relegation. At a press conference, they pestered Kyiv coach Mircea Lucescu with questions about the behaviour of his players, but he defended his charges.
"You have to understand the emotions of our players. Because you probably saw the banners of Aris fans during the first match in Thessaloniki, directed against Ukraine. Of course, I cannot agree with some of the gestures that our players showed on the pitch, but I understand them perfectly.The way theAris fans behaved led to the way our players reacted," said the Kyiv coach (Dynamo.kiev.ua, 17.08.23).
And when it came to Azov, the press conference was over. In the end, Dynamo's press attaché Andriy Shakhov Jr. only told the Greeks that "Azov are the heroes of Ukraine", which infuriated some of those present.
"At the post-match press conference, Greek journalists provoked Lucescu. They said they didn't like the fact that Dynamo players stood up for the heroes of Azov and greeted Aris fans after the victory.They didn't like thephrase 'Azov are the heroes of Ukraine' even more," after which the press conference wasover," he revealed the details on his Facebook page (17.08.23).
Dynamo also responded to the provocations of Aris fans. The Ukrainian club posted a response on Instagram (18.08.23 ) after the victory in Bucharest.
"We sent the patheticprovocations back to Greece. Home."Azov, heroes of Ukraine," the club's post reads.
As for the reaction of the "white and blue" players, they tried to draw the world's attention to the inadmissibility of insulting the defenders of Ukraine, which continues to resist Russian aggression. Dynamo captain Serhiy Sydorchuk made this statement, recalling the banner that Greek fans hung in the stadium stands during the team's match on 10 August. The experienced midfielder noted that he and his teammates will continue to glorify the heroes of Ukraine.
"We often hear that we should not stoop to the level of the enemy. Sometimes it is difficult to agree because of injustice. But we have to do our part. Yesterday there was a high degree of emotion. The team and I did not want to bypass moral and sporting values in football with our behaviour. We did not want to behave like our rivals. It is important for us to showcase our Ukrainian heroes. "Azov has been and remains the heroes we need to tell the world about. We will continue to do so. And it is important for the world to finally understand who is who and where the heroesare," Sydorchuk stressed." (Obozrevatel.com, 18.08.23).
FC Dynamo is also constantly trying to help the frontline. Together with the Surkis Brothers Foundation, it continues to provide Ukrainian defenders in the hottest spots with the necessary supplies and things.
Understanding that one of the most popular "goods" at the frontline to perform combat missions is transport, last week we organised the purchase and preparation of five more vehicles to be sent to our soldiers. The vehicles were purchased for targeted missions - ambulances with all the necessary equipment to rescue wounded soldiers and trucks to ensure convenient logistics in hot spots.
"Today we are handing over another five vehicles to our military," said Maxim Radutskiy, Dynamo's Development Director (Fcdynamo.com, 18.08.23). " While last time we had off-road vehicles, now we have prepared vehicles for different tasks. In particular, there is an ambulance, four-wheel drive, equipped with defibrillators, glucometers, medicines - that is, it is ready to help wounded soldiers right now. And, most importantly, it is autonomous, as we have installed solar panels on it. We also have trucks, one bigger and one smaller, to provide logistics, as well as off-road vehicles - one fast and one manoeuvrable. So we continue to help our army, our soldiers, and we do not stop helping them for a single day. And we will continue to help until our victory."
"On my own behalfand on behalf of all my comrades-in-arms, I would like to thank FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Surkis Brothers Foundation for their assistance. By helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine today, you are expressing your confidence in our future victory over the enemy. Without your support, without the support of the entire Ukrainian people, we would not have been able to deter the enemy's aggression. And together we will definitely win," in his turn, Vladyslav Martyniuk, Lieutenant Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thanked the sponsors for the cars in the story of "Podrobnitsy" (17.08.23).
The Azov Brigade also expressed its gratitude to the players and the entire Dynamo Kyiv team for their support. Our heroes were touched by the act of the Ukrainian football giant.
"Wethank the players and the entire Dynamo Kyiv team for supporting the Azov Special Forces Brigade.
Your victory over Aris was a worthy response to the unfounded accusations and provocations by some Greek fans.
We wish the capital's club not to rest on its laurels and continue to represent Ukraine in the international arena in the new season!" Azov said in a statement on its Telegram page (21.08.23).
"Dnipro-1 under attack
Unfortunately, another representative of Ukraine, who competed in the European Cups last week, failed his exam. "Dnipro-1 did not lose, but it was not enough to get past Slavia. Everything was decided in the first match, which the Prague team won 3-0. Not surprisingly, on the eve of the return leg, the press and experts were realistic. They didn't believe that the current Dnipro team would be able to overcome a three-goal deficit against a strong and well-coordinated Czech team.
Of course, nothing is impossible in football. There is hope for a quick goal, a withdrawal in the opponent's camp, and other factors. But we can't make the same mistakes ourselves. If Oleksandr Kucher's team had conceded for the fourth time, they could have forgotten about the Europa League this season.
"Thereshould be no chaos in Dnipro-1's game. It is clear that we need to score at least three goals to hope for a miracle, that is, to move on, but we must not forget about defence. If the Czechs concede one goal, that's it. It is very important to score first. Then you will have confidence in your abilities. Dnipro-1 players should prepare for a tough game where they have to be patient, wait for their chances, and believe in themselves.That's theonlyway," former Dnipro player and coach Dmytro Mykhailenko said in an interview with Ukrfootball.ua (17.08.23).
But his worst fears were confirmed after the break. Dnipro failed to score a quick goal. They opened the scoring, but they did so "in the dressing room", from which Slavia levelled the result. If Dnipro-1 had managed to score the second goal, who knows how the game would have turned out, but a failure in the centre of defence put an end to all hopes.
"In the remaining time, if anyone could have changed the score, it was Slavia. "Dnipro-1 should thank Kinareikin, who saved his team in several episodes. Now the Ukrainian club is facing another European Cup qualifier - the Conference League, where the Ukrainian vice-champions will play Spartak Trnava. And this is the last chance to stay in the European competitions this season," states Terrikon.com (18.08.23).
Interestingly, by leaving for the Conference League, Dnipro-1 set a unique achievement for domestic football. For the first time in history, a UPL club will play in three different European competitions in one season. The silver medallist of the last Ukrainian championship started with the second qualifying round of the Champions League, where it lost to Panathinaikos, and then went down to the Europa League and lost to Slavia.
In general, the start of the new season was as bad as possible for Dnipro. High demands from the management, the loss of team leader Artem Dovbyk... All of this significantly undermined the team's self-confidence. And in the middle of last week, it became known that the club's sporting director Yevhen Krasnikov had also left.
"After the end of the season, I thought about this decision for a long time, but I think it was absolutely right, because I can't give more than I have given to Dnipro-1 so far.That's why I asked CEO Andriy Rusol to dismiss me from the position of sporting director. I believe that at the moment the club has enough specialists who can take the team to a qualitatively new level.
I am very grateful to the club's fans, the management of Dnipro-1, the head coach and the entire coaching and administrative staff, and especially to the team's players, who, in my opinion, did the impossible last season. I wish the Dnipro club great victories.In the near future, I plan to return to work at Metalist," the specialist told 1+1 Media journalist Ihor Tsyhanik (Ua.tribuna.com, 16.08.23).
The next day, Dnipro-1 confirmed the parting of ways with their sporting director by mutual decision after a personal conversation with the management.
However, the Dnipro team suffered two more blows on the weekend. The first was a tournament one. In the 4th round of the UPL, Oleksandr Kucher's men won the match against Obolon, a newcomer to the elite division, but managed to lose, making their second consecutive misfire in the championship. The second blow was again a personnel one. At the post-match press conference, the head coach announced his resignation.
"Iwant to thank everyone. I resign along with the coaching staff. I take the blame for the results we have been showing lately. Thankyou all," Kucher said (Scdnipro1.com.ua, 20.08.23).
It is not yet known who will lead the teams, although rumours are circulating in the media that it will be a foreign coach with a Spanish passport...
In general, the 4th round was remembered for a number of sensational results. All the favourites suffered losses. "Zorya and Oleksandriya signed a dry draw, while Shakhtar and Kryvbas, on the contrary, staged a 3-3 shootout and earned three red cards each. Rukh, the unexpected leader of the race, stumbled for the first time, failing to break the resistance of Kolos (1-1). Dynamo also lost points for the first time, losing to Chornomorets (2-3). Kyiv caught up with Odesa twice, but at the end of the match they failed to make a third comeback due to a penalty and lack of time.
Nevertheless, the championship is still in full swing and the fight is still ahead. Unlike the European Cups, where the next two matches are crucial for Dynamo and Dnipro-1. After 31 August, it will be clear whether they will take part in the draw for the group stages on 1 September in Monaco or focus solely on solving internal problems...
Orest LELEKA
