Dynamo Kyiv defender Denys Popov commented on his return to the field after the team's victory over Lions' Bereg in the 8th round of the Ukrainian championship on Profootball Digital.
Denys Popov. Photo: 1927.kiev.ua
- Denys, tell us how you feel.
- Slowly, it happens in football that there are injuries, no one is immune from this. Plus, the road, plus such a busy schedule - it's a little hard. It so happened that I had one, two, three of these things. I had to take a break and recover.
- Did you have a problem with your back?
- Everything else comes from the back - the back, front, calf muscles. Today the pitch was of good quality, but soft, and this made it difficult.
- You were stretched for about 40 minutes after the match. How does this process go technologically?
- It's different for everyone. You need to get the blood flowing a little bit to recover as soon as possible. I still have a lot of physiotherapy at home, so I have to recover in this way.
- What was your condition before the match with Lazio? Could you theoretically take the field?
- Even today it was not easy, because I missed about a month. You still need to gain these conditions, to run through training, through matches. We can't have full training sessions, because the road also takes a lot of energy. We need time, which we don't have.
- How painful was it for you not to go to the national team of Ukraine?
- Of course, it was an unpleasant moment, because the national team is a very important moment for every player. You have to choose: either your health or the national team. I had to choose health, because I took a course of injections in my back. These are very unpleasant manipulations. I had to make this decision.
- What percentage are you ready now?
- If we talk in percentages, then about 70-80%. Everything is in the process.
