Slovenians were afraid of Polesie and did not know what to expect from this team. Many were frightened by the financial capabilities of the Ukrainian club, which spent a lot of money (by Slovenian standards) to strengthen the roster and managed to invite good players. Olimpija had a small budget and had to invite free agents. After the game, the Slovenians were pleased with the confident victory over a difficult opponent and believe that Olimpija should have no problem advancing to the next round. Slovenians also wrote about the fact that big money does not help Ukrainian soccer to progress, and also recalled the statements of the representatives of "Polesya" about "good draw".
Susnik: Bravo, Dragons! A very important victory against a difficult opponent. In the return match we need to consolidate our success. To beat the Ukrainians in the second match is a realistic goal.
Zupan: Where is your Usik, who should have motivated the Polesie players to win? Did you really think that "Olimpija" is such a weak club that you could beat us without any problems?
Dejan: The president of "Polesie" is either a fool or too trusting, which would be strange for a billionaire. I understand that he just gives money, and all soccer decisions are made by his managers, who obviously fool him. We know such examples in Slovenian, Croatian and Czech soccer. When rich investors come in, hire some people who spend a lot of money, but the result is still not there. As you can see, huge financial opportunities are not always an easy way to win.
Steffe: Just on this topic was recently a lot of talk in popular publics. All Ukrainian clubs depend on one man. "Dnipro-1" disappeared, he did not even want to play in the European Cup. Before that, many other clubs disappeared. I do not remember all their names. But they say that even Dynamo and Shakhtar depend on the mood of presidents and can disappear at any moment.
Zavrl: A popular soccer website rates Polesie twice as expensive, but it didn't prevent us from beating them 2-0. That's why I never understood on what basis the prices for players and teams are formed. In my opinion, Polesie should have been priced twice as cheap as Olimpija.
Cebular: There used to be a lot of strong clubs in Ukraine, which successfully played in European cups and even reached the last stages. There was a season when three or four Ukrainian clubs played in the Europa League quarterfinals, if I'm not mistaken, but the heyday of Ukrainian soccer is over, so Ukrainian teams - national teams or clubs - have long become desirable opponents.
Aljac: Despite years of war in Ukraine, local clubs continue to play soccer, play in European cups, and they still have big ambitions. Except that their successes are already in the past.
Zgonec: "Polesie" spent about 3 million euros to strengthen the team this summer. "Olimpija" signed several free agents. It would seem that we have little chance of success against such a rich club, but in fact we got a relatively easy victory.
Klemen: Despite all the personnel problems, Olimpija effortlessly scored two goals against the Ukrainians. In fact, the task of reaching the next round is already solved. We just need to play in the same style in the return match, then we can beat Polesie again.
Meznar: I think, we can already cautiously talk about Olimpija's exit to the next round of the Conference League qualification. If Polesie play as badly as they did today, they won't have any chance to win back in the return game.
Pustoslemsek: It's simple elementary school math. When you multiply any number by zero, you get zero. My point is that the coach of Polesie had played zero matches at the adult level before the game with us. Did they really think that they didn`t need a normal specialist to pass "Olimpia"?
Korajac: Ukrainians will be able to win in the return match only if Usik comes on the field and punches everyone in the face to intimidate. Seriously, I expected a more interesting game from the Ukrainian team.
Voncina: Ukraine is a typical soccer country in Eastern Europe. Despite the fact that it is a very big country, it does not stand out in soccer terms for the better. Just like in Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia - everywhere there are 1-2-3 good clubs, and all the rest are just masses, from which there is no use.
Dedi: Ukrainian soccer is going through difficult times. They failed at Euro 2024, they have a weak team at the Olympics that has already lost to Iraq. They have clubs disappearing and players dreaming of leaving to play in other countries, even very modest ones by soccer standards. So I didn't really believe that Polesie would be able to cause us any problems.
Lapuh: Victor Sanchez is a great coach who improved the team's game for the better. A specialist who has worked at Betis, Olympiacos, Deportivo and Malaga. It's hard to imagine how we managed to convince him to come to Slovenia, but it's obviously a big step for Olimpija and Slovenian soccer.
Kavcic: It was an easy task for Victor Sanchez. What could be easier than beating a coach who has never worked anywhere before and has no idea how to build a team, how to play in European competitions. We were really lucky with the draw, although there were some concerns before the game.
Imeraj: Nominally, "Polesie" has good players, a large budget for transfers, excellent salaries, good conditions for training. Everything indicated that it would be a difficult opponent. But when I learned that their new coach had not worked in adult soccer before, I realized that this was our chance to win. And that's just the way it worked out.
Sintler: There was a lot of pathos from "Polesie" before the game. They were sure that they would go through to the next round without any problems and were happy that they got to Olimpia, as if we had a weak team. What will they say now? What do they call themselves? Some steppe wolves, or something like that, judging by the emblem. I'll tell you this: today not wolves, but stray dogs played for "Polesie".
Kozamernik: If you look at "Polesie" and their activity in various media events, you would think that this club is the grandee of Ukrainian soccer. That's how they position themselves. But if you look at their game, their ambitions do not correspond to what the players show on the soccer field.
Aldin: The problem of Ukrainian soccer is dirty money. I will not talk about where the local millionaires got their start-up capital, because it is already obvious. They say that "Polesya" has a very rich club president, who is even friends with Usik, a famous boxer. But does this man understand soccer? Is he really a good manager or does he just know the right people who helped him "take off" in business? Slovenia also lived through these times, when there were a lot of random people in soccer, who were sure that their money would help them to win the championship, the Cup and successfully compete in European cups. We do not have the same financial opportunities as Ukrainian clubs, but we have a healthier soccer.
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