Famous Ukrainian coach Vyacheslav Grozny assessed the prospects of Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih in a two-match match against Spanish Betis in the playoffs of the Conference League qualifying round.
"In my opinion, we should pay tribute to Kryvbas: the management, coaching staff, and players. A team in the European Cups - who could have talked about that a year ago. And it was not by chance that they got into the European Cups, but by playing.
They will look at Betis differently compared to Victoria. Yes, they are a good team, but what place did they take in La Liga? They are seventh. This is not a super top team, not Barcelona, not Real Madrid. Even Girona did better.
Of course, Yuriy Vernydub (Kryvbas head coach - ed.) understands how to play against every team, and against Betis in particular. Of course, there shouldn't be any gaps, there should be enough blocking, playing without the ball, there should be insurance. They know how to do this, Kryvbas plays well in the league.
I'm sure they have a chance. Someone said: "What are you talking about, Grozny? It will be hard for both Dynamo and Kryvbas". Did I say it would be easy? It's never easy in sports. But both Dynamo and Kryvbas have a chance to play in the main tournament of the European Cups. I am really saying this.
"Kryvbas was one of the best teams in the league last season, finishing in the top three. Why should they be inferior to the team that took seventh place?" eurofootball.com.ua quoted Grozny as saying.