In the reporting week, Dnipro-1 and Dynamo, who started in the European Cup earlier, were joined by Zorya. The trio's extravaganza failed - the Dnipro team only managed a draw. However, analysts agree that the Luhansk and Kyiv teams, having lost their duels, do not deserve excessive criticism.
A parade of coaching resignations
"Dnipro-1, which started the international season in the Champions League qualifiers, is currently competing for the right to play in the group stage of the Conference League. The barrier on this path is Slovakian Spartak Trnava. In the first meeting of the rivals, a 1-1 draw was recorded, which our countrymen should be quite satisfied with, given the course of the game.
"Thematch started off amazingly for the Dnieper team. In the5th minute, Sarapiy interrupted the opponent's pass in front of his own penalty area and initially the referee assessed the foul as a yellow card, but after consulting with VAR, the chief referee changed his decision and showed Eduard a straight red card for a last-ditch foul," states the Dnipro club's official website (scdnipro1.com.ua, 23.08.23).
Thus, it is difficult to judge any plans for this meeting and their implementation: almost throughout the entire match, Dnipro had to hold the defence. Under such conditions, the guests conceded only once and - moreover - found the strength to win back!
The team played the end of the match with nine players, as the referee sent off Kogut. But they kept the balance, leaving themselves a good chance of overall success in the confrontation.
"Spartak Trnava, as expected, did not offer anything incredible," Mykhailo Yukhymenko assesses the potential of the Slovak team (football24.ua, 21.08.23 ). " This team is skilful in combat, looks very dangerous on standards and crosses, and in general lives off the mistakes of the opponent's defence. I can't say that Dnipro made mistakes often (it's hard to do with such a simple game), but there were some clippings, lost tackles and lack of concentration from time to time."
"It is very difficult to play 100 minutes in the minority," said Valeriy Gorodov, acting head coach of Dnipro-1, at the post-match press conference. "I would like to thank all the players, staff and especially our fans for their support. And I would like to thank the players for the quality of the game and for their patience. They did a great job! Only the first half of the match is behind us. The second game will be ahead and I think you will see changes" (ua.tribuna.com, 23.08.23).
Gorodov played the role of a kind of "fireman" after the head coach Oleksandr Kucher resigned the previous week. The result of the specialist's first year at the helm of the club was a vice-championship, but at the start of the new season Dnipro-1 stalled - it dropped out of the Champions League, then the Europa League, and the last straw was a defeat in the Ukrainian championship by Obolon.
Who will lead one of the leaders of national football?
"We are waiting for a young foreigner. I won't say which country he is from. Let's wait," the club's commercial director Vyacheslav Fridman was quoted as saying by Ukrainian Football (ukrfootball.ua, 21.08.23).
"Zorya was also forced to change its coach in the off-season: instead of Dutch coach Patrick van Leeuwen, who accepted Shakhtar's offer, Serbian Nenad Lalatovic took over the team. Under his leadership, the Luhansk team entered the Europa League qualifiers, getting a chance to take revenge on Slavia Prague, which knocked Dnipro-1 out of the draw in the previous round.
The representatives of the Ukrainian delegation and the Zorya fans in the stands were pleased to receive congratulations on Independence Day from the stadium announcer. Before the game, the players of both teams unfurled a poster with the words "We stand with Ukraine". However, with the starting whistle, as expected, friendly feelings gave way to other emotions.
"Slavia dominated the pitch, as evidenced by the statistics: before the break, they had 12:0 shots, 6:0 on target, 4:0 corner kicks, and 66% possession. However, thanks primarily to the inspired play of goalkeeper Turbayevsky, Zorya defended their own goal right up to the endgame.
"And yet the Prague team achieved their goal. TheCzechs''standard' and 'joker' came to the rescue," Viktor Kotov describes the situation (footclub.com.ua, 24.08.23 ). " Tidjani, who came on as a substitute, won the air from the defenders and literally pierced theLuhansk goalkeeper with a powerful header. And in stoppage time, Masopust took advantage of the defence's confusion to score from a few metres out. But Turbayevsky still remained the hero of the match, preserving Zorya's chances in the return leg, which will take place in a week in Lublin, Poland."
"We are forced tobuild anew team, because many players left the club after wefinished3rd last season ," complained Lalatovic after the game, " We currently haveall theplayers who can compete at the top level in the Ukrainian Premier League, but there is still a lot of work to be done... This match could have looked different, but it is what it is. Where the opponent could have scored, they did not, and where there could have been no goal, they scored. Still, we thank our players, they showed their best today" (ua-football.com, 25.08.23).
Obviously, the spectators also agreed with the coach, who, at the end of the game, saw off Zorya with shouts of "Well done! Well done! Well done!". But, of course, this verdict will need to be confirmed in a week. In any case, the Luhansk team will continue to play in continental competitions - at worst in the Conference League group, at best, if they get past Slavia, in the Europa League.
Only this time, without Lalatovic. After Sunday's match against Minaj in the national championship, a few days after Kucher, the Zorya coach also announced his resignation.
"He said that he did not live up to the expectations that were set for him. And he himself does not meet the expectations of himself," ua-football.com reported (27.08.23). "He also added that what the team is currently showing is its maximum, and he cannot give more.
Don't look for logic in football...
The analysts' opinion on Dynamo Kyiv's first match against Turkish side Besiktas in the Conference League play-offs is almost unanimous: Mircea Lucescu's men played one of their best games this season and did not deserve to lose. However, football is sometimes not very fair - the scoreboard at the Bucharest stadium showed 3-2 in favour of Istanbul at the end of the match.
In terms of personnel, playing and financial potential, Beşiktaş could well have counted on a place in the competition for a ticket to the Champions League. The team is led by experienced coach Shenol Güneş, who in 2002 led the Turkish national team to third place at the World Cup. With him, the Black-and-Whites suffered only two defeats in 32 matches, having easily dealt with Azerbaijani Neftchi in the previous round of the European tournament.
The difficulties of the Kyiv team are now well known: logistics, personnel, and morale against the backdrop of Russian aggression. On the eve of the match, it became known that the team leader Yarmolenko was injured, which undoubtedly added to the coaching staff's headaches. Nevertheless, Dynamo left the pitch with their heads held high.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a Kyiv club so charged and aimed at the opponent 's goal," Oleksandr Sazhko (ua.tribuna.com, 25.08.23) praised the Kyiv team, " Finally, Dynamo came out to play football, to fight, to gnaw, not to suffer.
Yes, with a lot of mistakes, yes, with huge limitations in skill, yes, with the usual defenders' deliveries. But the team was lively and determined to prove themselves in a match where everyone considered them an absolute outsider.
They didn't give up, scored twice, and even conceded the decisive goal in extra time because they played with their hearts, not their heads - they didn't give up until the end, went forward, ran to score the third goal and didn't have time to return to the opponent's attack as a team. Not pragmatically, but with all our hearts."
The Tribune's author is echoed by Serhiy Sytnyk, a journalist for the FootBoom portal, in his report on the match. He also focuses on the utmost dedication, Dynamo's focus on the opponent's goal and their desire to play to win.
"Lucescu's team managed to attract attention not only with their appearance on this football evening," emphasises S. Sytnyk, " Kyiv, who have a difficult start to the season, managed to give a real fight to the strong Besiktas, which many had previously called the obvious favourite of the pair" (footboom1.com, 24.08.23).
Unfortunately, according to the author, the result was affected by the imbalance observed between the attack and defence lines. As good as Kyiv's players were up front (Shaparenko, Voloshyn, Karavayev, Buyalsky), they were equally uncertain elsewhere in defence. Trouble again after set pieces, another penalty against Bushchan. In addition, the vigilance of the VAR "eye" again "played" against us - it confirmed that the ball hit Popov's hand, but cancelled Karavaev's goal due to a negligible offside
"We must take into account that we played against an experienced team staffed by quality performers," says well-known manager and expert Vyacheslav Zakhovailo. " The guys should be praised, they gave their all. But this is football. And at this level, one mistake can decide the outcome of a match. Turkey has a chance to win back, the prerequisites are there, it is clear that the Turks are not in optimal shape. Tactically, the return leg will be easier. The stands will drive Besiktas into attack. I hope thatDynamo will be able to take advantage of this" (dynamo.kiev.ua, 25.08.23).
Among the factors that can contribute to the success of Kyiv in Istanbul, observers note Dynamo's ability to hold the ball, Lucescu's tactical findings (in particular, Karavaev's effectiveness in the "width"), and Dynamo's overall advantage in physical condition.
In other words, there were no reasons for doom. In fact, Mircea himself confirmed this at the post-match press conference in Bucharest.
"Today we played well against a strong opponent, who may have been better than us in technical and physical terms, but weplayedwell against them due to the organisation of the game, dedication, unity," the Romanian was quoted as saying byDynamo's official website. We have some positive aspects, but we need to eliminate the mistakes we make in defence that lead to conceded goals. We have to play our game, oppose the opponent withour combinationactions, believe that we can achieve the desired result" (dynamo.kiev.ua, 25.08.23).
Blue and yellow is the colour of dignity
In one of our previous media reviews, we focused on the challenges that the Dynamo head coach faces while staying in Kyiv. Lucescu's desire to complete his contract on the back of tournament success forced the Romanian to reject several interesting offers to continue his career. Mircea spoke about some of them in an interview with Playsport reporters.
"I could have joinedAl-Nasr, but I didn't. I could have joinedFenerbahce, but I said no. I have to finish what I started if I can, so I have no regrets," the record-breaking coach (the oldest practising coach in world football) said, according to dynamo.kiev.ua and ukrfootball.ua (24.08.23 ). I had no interest in taking this step. The world doesn't really understand what I'm made of. I value the sentimental aspect and responsibility much more than the financial interest."
As a rule, football fate and Fortune reward such an attitude to their work and responsibilities. Dynamo continue to pin their hopes on Lucescu, and he himself is determined to leave the team only as a winner.
The international achievements of the Kyiv club, as well as the rest of our representatives on the continental scene, are extremely important for the UEFA coefficient table, where Ukraine is unfortunately losing ground. The national association has dropped to 17th place in the rankings and risks getting a smaller quota to participate in European competitions in the near future. While the 15th place allowed the UPL to have five teams in the European competitions for the 2025/2026 season, the 16th place means that one team is minus one and the country does not receive any guaranteed places in the group rounds.
An additional factor in the importance of Dynamo's good tournament performance is its representation in the national team. The new coach of the Ukrainian national team, Serhii Rebrov, has just announced the squad for the September Euro 2024 qualifiers against England and Italy. Eight Kyiv residents are among those selected, as Dynamo continues to be the base club of the national team.
Another four players are pupils of the capital's club who are currently playing in foreign teams. It is possible that in the near future Rebrov will also be interested in some of Lucescu's other wards: Dubinchak, Vivcharenko or Voloshyn.
The latter, by the way, was recognised as one of the best in the match against Besiktas. And not just because of his goal - the second in a row in the Conference League (both with headers, and he's 1.75m tall!). According to Dmytro Vatras, a columnist for the Tribuna website, the 20-year-old winger is revealing himself more and more in the Kyiv team.
"Nazar stood out last season as well - he proved himself on loan at Kryvbas and scored three times in the UPL for Dynamo," we read on ua.tribuna.com (25.08.23). " He scored 4 goals in the first half of the championship, becoming the leader of Kryvyi Rih's attacks, and in the winter he went to training camp with his native Dynamo .Now Voloshyn has finally proved that we can rely on him as a main man, because he does not get lost even in big matches under any conditions, which, for example, is something his competitors in the position lack."
For the match against Besiktas, Voloshyn and his teammates came out in a reserve set of blue and yellow colours. In honour of the Independence Day, symbolising their belief in the Victory and support for the country waging a bloody war, its people and armed forces.
Gratitude to the Armed Forces of Ukraine was also the leitmotif of Igor Surkis' Independence Day greetings. Undoubtedly, all Dynamo players who wore blue and yellow colours to the official game on this holy day for every Ukrainian will sign up to the words of their president.
"I sincerely thank our defenders who stood up to fight for our independence, statehood and the very existence of our country, who are fighting for our freedom, for the blue and yellow flag to fly in all corners of Ukraine, for our children to have a future, and for us to have a life of our own choosing.
Dynamo Kyiv has always been, is and will be proud and incredibly honoured to play under the blue and yellow flag and represent our beautiful country. And we continue to do our best and make every effort to bring our common Victory closer.
We believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we help each other and fight to win! Glory toUkraine and Ukrainians!" (dynamo.kiev.ua, 24.08.23).
This faith is not just lip service. One of the proofs of this belief is the new children's school that FC Dynamo Kyiv opened in Kyiv on the eve of Independence Day together with its partners from Dynamo Kids. Children aged two to seven will learn the basics of football there.
According to the representatives of the famous club, Dynamo plans to be represented in all parts of Ukraine, to popularise the club's brand, and to open new schools and academy branches. Undoubtedly, in the future, some of these young players will grow into real masters who will represent their country in the sports world with dignity.
Orest LELEKA
