Leonid Buryak: «I don’t know how much Blokhin would cost now!»

The legend of Dynamo, Leonid Buryak, who was on the nominee list for the «Ballon d’Or 1975», spoke about the prestigious award in 2024.

— What do you think about the «Ballon d’Or» award, which in 2024 was won by Manchester City midfielder and Spain international Rodri?

— Yes, Rodri is a good footballer who won the European Championship and has many excellent qualities. But it’s also worth highlighting his main competitor Vinicius from Real Madrid, who is scoring a lot right now. Currently, the Brazilian is relevant, he has seriously improved recently. Of course, Vinicius deserved to win the «Ballon d’Or». And the media wrote that he would be the laureate, but at the last moment something changed, and everyone was shuffled. As a result, Real boycotted the «Ballon d’Or» ceremony. And this already smells of a little scandal. It is also worth noting that it is not some mediocre team. It is Real Madrid!

— By the way, what do you say about El Clasico, which took place on the eve of the «Ballon d’Or» presentation?

— Barcelona lost comprehensively to Real at home. But with a good turn of events for the Galacticos, the score could have been different in the first half. Before the break, Real played well, the Madrid team had good moments. So I will say this: I respect both the Spaniard and the Brazilian, but I think Vinicius is a more deserving individual who should have received the «Ballon d’Or». We are not talking about his character, but surely without character he would not have become who he is now. I think Vinicius deserved this award.

— There were also options to give the «Ballon d’Or» to Carvajal since he won the Euros, the Champions League, and La Liga.

— They rarely give such awards to defenders. They gave it once in 2006 to the Italian Fabio Cannavaro. And regarding Carvajal, who recently had knee surgery, well, from a humanitarian point of view, he could have also been awarded.

— What if we try to draw such a parallel? In 1975, the «Ballon d’Or» was awarded to Dynamo forward Oleg Blokhin, and you, being a midfielder for the Kyiv team, became 23rd on the nominee list. Can Blokhin be conditionally compared with Haaland, and you with Rodri? I mean, the Norwegian scores a lot, but the award was given to the Spanish player!

— Back then, the list of laureates also included legends like Beckenbauer, Neeskens, and Lato. If you look at that nominee list from 1975, it will have the World XI! And comparing anyone to Blokhin is difficult. I don’t know how much Blokhin would cost now! But I am sure he would be relevant. The most important thing is that the current forwards do not possess the speed that Blokhin had. And this is currently the component of football that everyone strives for. Blokhin was much faster than Haaland in his time. Right now, there are no footballers like Blokhin. If he didn’t break through one-on-one 4-5 times in a game, it wasn’t a game. Blokhin scored a lot! His strong points also included his ability to assist the team, receive the ball, and play combinations. Blokhin was quite a skillful footballer who could express himself positively on the field in various ways.

— By the way, Andriy Lunin found himself in the top-3 best goalkeepers in the world, while Artem Dovbik ranked 29th on the «Ballon d’Or» list!

— Lunin and Dovbik are good footballers! The more of our players play abroad, the better. Maybe they will return to Ukraine and work at home, developing local football. Perhaps they will bring some other style to Ukraine, which will help our football progress! Lunin and Dovbik from Spain and Italy, and Zabarnyi from England! God willing, our footballers will continue to develop!

— And also evaluate the last classic match between Dynamo and Shakhtar, which ended in a 1:1 draw. What do you think of the game?

— Knowing the mood of Dynamo and Shakhtar, I think that the draw is a logical result. Both teams didn’t earn more. But it seems to me that for Dynamo, this draw looks better because the gap from Shakhtar remains the same six points, and Kyivans remained leaders of the UPL. For Dynamo, it was important not to let Shakhtar close the gap to six points.

— Why do Dynamo and Shakhtar not manage to play in European cups as they do in the Ukrainian championship and score?

— The Kyivans and Donetskans cannot transfer the advantage they have in the UPL to the European arena. For European matches, they currently lack execution skill. These clubs also lack the footballers they had before. So we have what we have.

— But it still seemed that in the classic match, Dynamo and Shakhtar looked more active than in previous encounters. Maybe in the upcoming European matches against Ferencváros and Young Boys, they will manage to achieve a positive result?

— I hope so. But the problem is that logistics take a lot of effort. There are some problems. And again, it should be noted that at this time, Shakhtar and Dynamo do not have the depth of skill that would allow us to compete equally against European teams. It just takes time, and I think our grand teams' play will improve.

Dmytro Kotkov