Today, in Lublin, Poland, Dynamo Kyiv will play their first match in the current Champions League draw. As part of the second qualifying round, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's team will meet the Serbian silver medalist Partizan Belgrade at the Lublin Arena. The Dynamo team has already met this opponent twice in its history - in the 1976/1977 Champions Cup and the 2017/2018 Europa League. UA-Football asked one of its participants, Kyiv defender Stefan Reshko, to recall the vicissitudes of the first of the confrontations.
- What do you remember about the matches with Partizan in September 1976?
- We won 3-0 at home and 2-0 away. We were not afraid, but respected the opponent, because Partizan was one of the best clubs in Yugoslavia at the time. And Yugoslav football was known to be at a high level in Europe. When we confidently won the first match in Kyiv, scoring three goals, we went to Belgrade two weeks later with no worries. We were going there to win and advance to the next round of the competition. Still, we were ready for a serious game, during which the 70,000-seat stadium was screaming and roaring - the fans there are quite hot. "Partizan is a good team, but they were also a good team for us (smiles). "Dynamo proved it at the Belgrade stadium, scoring two goals. This speaks not so much of Partizan's weakness as of Dynamo's strength. So the 5-0 score in the sum of the two matches eloquently showed that the advantage was on our side.
- Judging by the scores in both matches, the Belgrade team Dynamo didn't pose any particular problems?
- No, it didn't. I think everything was decided in Kyiv. Having won 3-0, we made a good start before the return game. Having such a margin in goals means you can go on the road without too much worry. And not only to Yugoslavia, but also to the Netherlands or Germany. And even now, this advantage also allows us to be calmer before the second match.
- In the home match against Partizan, Mykhailo Moskalenko played in goal for Dynamo, for whom that match was the only European Cup game in his career. He is remembered only by meticulous fans with experience....
- Yes, I remember him - a tall and skinny goalkeeper. A good guy who was Yevhen Rudakov's understudy. Back then, Zhenya was winning the competition, and he played great. So it was hard for Moskalenko to compete with Rudakov. But I don't remember why he wasn't in the goal in the Kyiv match. He must have been injured. As for Moskalenko, in the first match against Partizan he played well. Moreover, in Kyiv, the Belgrade team was not able to attack much. And in general, it is easier for goalkeepers to play at home. But in the second match in Belgrade, Rudakov already appeared in the "frame" and became the best in our team. He even saved a penalty kick.
- Your team met with Partizan just a month and a half after returning from the 1976 Olympics, where, despite the bronze medal, the performance was recognized as unsuccessful and led to a conflict in Dynamo Kyiv...
- That's exactly what happened. We had to play with the Belgrade team shortly after a misunderstanding with the coaches at Dynamo. Lobanovskyi and Bazylevych 'drove' us a little bit at that time, which led to it. We said at the time that if Dynamo, as part of the USSR Olympic team, had to play the GDR after our fall matches against Partizan and Greek PAOK (we also beat them 4-0 and 2-0 on the sum of two matches), there would definitely not have been a 1-2 loss! We were rested after exorbitant loads, besides, Bazylevych left the team, and the training program was canceled. And Lobanovsky began to treat this process differently. So, towards the end of the 1976 season, Dynamo's players approached their optimal form. The matches with Partizan were the first successes on the way to a successful 1977 season. Although our team failed to make it to the Champions Cup final, losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final match (1-0 and 0-2), we still managed to please the fans - we became the champion of the USSR.
- What are the defining qualities of Serbian footballers that you would single out?
- They are individually strong in technical terms. The Yugoslavs' technique was already better than that of many Eastern European countries - Poles, Czechs, Romanians. And their "physics" was fine. Yugoslavia has always had gifted players. One of them is Dragan Djajic from Crvena Zvezda, who played for the national team for a decade and a half. At that time, he was one of the best strikers in Europe. In general, Yugoslav, and now Serbian, football has many virtues. And this should be taken into account.
- Has Serbian football changed since then?
- I don't really keep track of what's happening in Serbian football. Especially now. However, I can say that at the European Championships in Germany, the Serbs performed poorly. Unlike in the last four decades of the last century, when sports in general and football in particular were at a high level in Yugoslavia. Yugoslav football players played in leading European clubs, such as Real Madrid. They also played in France, Italy, Belgium, and other countries. At the time, it was possible to move from Yugoslavia, where there was democracy and more freedom, to clubs in various European championships. But in the USSR, there was a strict ban on this.
- What are your expectations from today's match in Lublin?
- We have to win! You just reminded us of our victory over Partizan in 1976. So if the current Dynamo players read about the victories of their predecessors, it may become a good example and model for them.
Viacheslav Kulchytskyi