Dynamo midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko commented on the zero-zero draw in the 7th round home match of the Ukrainian championship against Rukh Lviv and his team's first loss of points this season.
Andriy Yarmolenko. Photo by Yuriy Yuriev- I think the game was interesting for the fans, both teams created many chances. We should pay tribute to the Rukh team and its players. Of course, if we had used our chances in the first half, it would have been easier for us in the second half. But that's football: sometimes you score from nothing, and sometimes you don't realize one hundred percent of your chances. What did you lack? There were not enough goals.
- The goal against Dynamo was canceled because of offside, but Shaparenko hit the crossbar instead. Can you say that Dynamo did not fight enough in the final phase?
- I think we definitely didn't lose the fight, but we just didn't use our chances, especially before the break. And in the second half, we went forward, opened up, so Rukh had two or three good opportunities.
- It seemed that Rukh was aggressive, but wasn't it too tough?
- In my opinion, everything was within the normal range. There was a pure man-to-man fight, the referee let us play in many episodes. I think it's better than when the whistle blows every time you fall. In short, I didn't see anything particularly rude today. Yes, we didn't manage to win, yes, we lost points, but it still had to happen sometime, because it's hard to go the whole season without losses.
- Can we say that today was a rehearsal before the match with Lazio in the Europa League?
- No, there was no rehearsal. We will prepare for European competitions only after today's game. The schedule is very busy, there is no such thing that we consider one game more important than another, because for each victory we get three points. Therefore, we need to give our all on the field and win every time. Unfortunately, we failed to do that today.
- Share your impressions of the new format of the Europa League and your opponents.
- The draw has already taken place, and nothing will change after it, even if I wanted other opponents. (Smiles). Of course, something new is always interesting. We'll see how it goes. A very busy schedule begins, with games in three days on the fourth or two days on the third. The most important thing is to have time to recover and rest after the trip. Logistics complicates our task a bit, but it's okay - we will prepare to represent our club and country in Europe with dignity.
- You had experience of playing a busy schedule when you played in the English Premier League, so will it be familiar to you?
- If the players of the Premier League traveled by bus or train, like Dynamo, Shakhtar or Kryvbas, I think they would not be able to play in 48 hours or 72 hours. This is a little different. No one in Europe has ever experienced anything like this. It's one thing to have a full recovery, when you can come to the base at any time to do all the necessary procedures, and it's quite another when you travel for 20 hours by bus in a sitting position. What kind of recovery can we talk about? Of course, it's good that we have a big squad and a lot of players. I think everyone will play, everyone will have their chance, we just need to take advantage of it. A very difficult period is expected ahead, we will act as a united team and support each other.
