Former Dynamo Kyiv winger Benjamin Verbych has spoken out about the upcoming matches of Ukrainian clubs in the qualifiers for European competitions.
- Today your former club, Dynamo Kyiv, will play Partizan Belgrade in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers. What do you think about this match?
- Oh, I'm sure it will be an interesting game. "Dynamo looked quite powerful at the end of last season, so they should win. Of course, I will be rooting for them.
- The White and Blues changed their head coach last season. Instead of the experienced Mircea Lucescu, the team was led by a novice coach, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. What are your memories of working with Mircea?
- I have only good things to say about Mircea. He is extremely professional and tactically competent. I believe that I have grown significantly under his leadership. I am very happy that I could work with such a specialist.
- And as for Dynamo's main star, Mykola Shaparenko, whom you once affectionately called the Cat. Now there is a lot of information about where he can move to in the summer, but do you think Shaparenko is ready for a transfer to the top European championship?
- Shaparenko is definitely ready. When I played with Kola, I noted his endurance, he did a lot of running work. He has good technique, he sees the field perfectly and, in my opinion, deserves to play in the top championship. At Euro 2024, he once again confirmed this. Shaparenko is a great player and I wish him a successful transfer.
- Which league suits him best?
- I think he would look great in the Spanish La Liga.
- That is, he would fit into the conditional Girona?
- Ha, well, maybe. There's Vitya Tsygankov, there's Artem Dovbyk. It would be nice to see Shaparenko there as well.
- At the same time, Polissia will meet Olympia Ljubljana in the second qualifying round on their way to the main stage of the Conference League. According to Transfermarkt, it is this Slovenian club that you scored your first goal in your career. What can you tell us about the Ljubljana team?
- In fact, I scored my first goal for Primorska somewhere in the 2011/12 season, but it was already the second for Ljubljana. As for Olympia itself, it is historically the largest club in Slovenia. They showed good results back when the state of Yugoslavia existed.
Olympia was the most successful Slovenian club in Yugoslavia, and after gaining independence, the team has always set high goals and fought for the championship. But last season, I was pleased that they were unlucky and that Celje, my home club, won the championship.
- Does Olimpiya have a consistent style of football that has distinguished it from others over the years?
- It's hard to talk about it, but I think there is no such thing. They've had a lot of coaches in recent years and they don't have their own style, like Dynamo, for example, when talking about Dynamo football.
- Did you follow Polissia last season? What do you know about this club?
- Yes, of course I did. Especially during the first six months, when Denys Boyko was constantly playing in the first team and I kept in touch with him.
- What exactly did your ex-partner at Dynamo Kyiv tell you about Polissia?
- Denys said only good things, noted the team's base and the level of organization at the club. I saw that they were even in first place in the Ukrainian championship for some time. Thank God that there are teams like this that are investing a lot of money even despite the difficult situation in the country. I think this is only a plus for Ukraine. I wish Polissya good luck.
- So will you be rooting for Polissia in the match against Olympia?
- (laughs) I don't even know if I'll be rooting for football. Slovenia is still my homeland:)
- Let's move on to predictions. How do you think the first match between Dynamo and Partizan will end?
- Given that Dynamo will play nominally at home, in Poland, I think they should win 2-0.
- The score in the Olimpiya vs Polissia game according to Benjamin Verbych.
- And here the home stadium will play into Ljubljana's hands. "Oh, I think that in the first match, Olympia will win over Polissia. I'll say it will be 1-0 in their favor.
Vladislav Liutostansky