— We confidently won, created many chances, but after the pause due to the air raid alarm, we went back on the field with insufficient concentration, even though we warned the guys about this. In one of the moments, we relied too much on each other and missed a counterattack. Today, on the left flank, we had Hubenko — quite substantial, good, but one mistake played its role, and we conceded a goal. During the break, we readjusted, came out with a good mood, scored our goals, reorganized well, and did not allow the opponent's team to create anything near their own goal. We scored two more times and brought the match to a logical conclusion.
— It seemed the alarm played into the opponent's hands, as they scored right after it?
— Yes, it turns out that for them, the alarm worked in their favor, while we conceded.
— Despite the frosty weather today, you played on green grass. How much did that add unpleasant moments?
— What kind of unpleasant moments could there be? The field is well-prepared, it's of good quality, the weather is normal, with a temperature of 0 — +1 degrees. The grass allowed us to play the game we planned. In the previous match, we played on an artificial surface, of course, on the green grass — the ball moves faster, transitions happen more quickly, in a word, everything is faster. Football, in general, can be shown faster, which we strive to play.
— What conclusions can you draw from the first round?
— Unfortunately, we lost some points, but we continue to work, there is noticeable progress from the players, they perceive information differently now, come out on the field with different emotions, act more organized and meaningfully. There is also noticeable growth in the footballers.
— Hryts returned from injury but was substituted again, does he have another injury?
— He got hit on the legs. Ponomarenko came on for him, allowing Salenko, who is involved with the first team, to rest. We have the next game in Kosovo, so Matviy was given less playing time today to rest, as he has had a heavy workload in recent matches.
— This season, "Dynamo U-19" is playing for the first time under unusual conditions with long travels, how does this affect the training process?
— This has no effect at all, we prepare, recover, and play in a planned regime. For us, matches in the UEFA Youth League are a good experience needed for the players' growth. It doesn't matter how much time is spent on the road because the mood for such matches and emotions are incomparable.
— Peikrishvili recovered, scored twice today, how do you evaluate his game?
— It's good that he scored twice, but there are certain moments and questions. He has room to develop. We are working on developing this player as well. There is always room for improvement.
Ihor Kostiuk (photo: fcdynamo.com)
