Taras Mykhalyk, the defensive pillar of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team of the late noughties, shared his forecast and expectations for Zorya's first match in the group round of the 2023/2024 Conference League against Belgian side Ghent.
- Taras, this season, Ukrainian teams in European competitions have not been very good, to put it mildly. Do you believe that Zorya can get an acceptable result in the match against Ghent?
- The current Zorya and the one from last season are completely different teams. There is a crazy rotation in the team. Some players leave, others come in. This is the second new head coach at the Luhansk club since the start of the season. There is no stable line-up and no results. Everything is natural. How can you build a strong team when there is such a charade?
- And what's the reason for all the fuss?
- In the summer, Volodymyr Brazhko left the team, or rather, returned to Dynamo, a few weeks ago Nazariy Rusyn left the team, and some other key players left.
- To this list, of course, we can add Maksym Imerekov, Pavlo Polehenko, Maksym Khlan, Serhii Buletsa, Yevhen Shakhov, who were two very important players for Zorya in the 2022/2023 season.
- Zorya's skeleton crew was simply taken out. Again, today's Zorya and the one from a few months ago are two different teams. But, you know, before the game against Ghent, I estimate the chances of both teams in it to be 50-50. The ball is round, the pitch is rectangular. If we're being serious, Zorya can really hang on to the result.
- At what cost?
- The team now has a new head coach and those players who will be in the starting line-up and those who will be in the application will strive to prove their strength to Valery Kriventsov. It's a great motivation. In addition, this is a European Cup match and a home match at that.
Of course, it is only conditionally home, but in Lublin, I am sure Zorya will have good support from our temporary, internally displaced persons and diaspora.
- Gent is the leader of the Belgian championship, the last team in the Jupiler League who has not lost this season. Is there anything in store for our team?
- Zorya has always been a team with good fighting qualities. It's not for nothing that they were called "men" in their time. They have to keep the brand. They have to live up to their formidable nickname. At least, I don't expect a pogrom in Lublin, as it was in Hamburg with Shakhtar.
- A prediction from Taras Mykhalyk.
- I will try to find time to watch Zorya's match in full, all 90 minutes. You know, I don't have much time for football right now. I have a lot of non-football things to do.
As for the forecast, I would put my money on a 1-1 draw.
Viktor Hlukhienkyi