On Thursday, January 30, in the match of the final, 8th round of the main stage of the Europa League, Kyiv “Dynamo” defeated Latvian RFSh with a score of 1:0. The match took place in Hamburg. Here is the post-match press conference of “Dynamo” head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
— The last time “Dynamo” won in the group stage of European competitions was in 2020 against “Ferencváros” also with a score of 1:0. Five years have passed since then, and we have not managed to win in 20 matches. What does this victory mean to you?
— A victory is always a victory. But let’s be honest, we were not counting on this result when we started the matches of the main stage of the Europa League. Unfortunately, it turned out as it did. We analyze and will analyze each game, and while doing this, we never tie ourselves to the result. I will explain why. Because the result can positively or negatively affect the analysis. And in that case, emotions do not always help to correctly and accurately consider certain football aspects and moments.
Today’s game, from the point of view of the result for the tournament table, was not significant. But from the point of view of the image and maintaining the team’s face, it was of great importance for us, for “Dynamo.” Therefore, we are definitely satisfied. Although the quality of the pitch… it was the worst pitch we have played on.
— “Dynamo” played two Europa League matches in January and achieved positive results in both. Did better logistics influence this?
— Undoubtedly, no matter what anyone says, logistics always matters, especially when you are deliberately preparing for a certain opponent. The results and circumstances in which we prepared for these two matches confirmed this.
— Why was Oleksandr Karavayev absent from the match roster?
— Today we could not count on Brazeck, Karavayev, Dubinchik, Shaparenko, who missed the match due to an accumulation of yellow cards, and in addition, he also got sick. There is some virus in the team, so we could not rely on these players. We will also add Buialskyi, who got injured in the match against “Galatasaray.” We did not push his rehabilitation, decided to keep him from playing so he could prepare for the second part of the season. The same applies to Denys Popov.
— Did you feel the support of the fans?
— We thank them. Of course, it is always nice to play in packed stands, and our players felt this in Istanbul. It is very important to have support. But you have to understand, if we succumb to emotions on the football field, it will not lead to anything good. The fans support the team, they set the pace, express their dissatisfaction when the team does not play as it should. But we have to understand that there is a certain game structure, organization, patterns. And we have to adhere to them, we have to be consistent in our actions.
And additional support gives players motivation, energy, to show their qualities as best as possible. We have to run forward, but we also have to maintain certain organization. Because when we attack, we have to think about defense. And when we are defending, we have to position ourselves in such a way as to be ready to quickly transition to attack.
— The next official match “Dynamo” will play in almost a month, how ready is the team for the second part of the season, and how will the further preparation take place? Has it changed due to the matches of the Europa League?
— Indeed, we are now in new realities, as we have never played official matches in January. And at the end of February there were already matches, at this time the spring part of the Ukrainian championship begins and there were also European cup matches played at this time. I would say that we have completed the first stage of our preparation and now we will give the guys a little rest. This is necessary for them to recharge, and also to communicate a little less with each other, so the virus does not spread.
From February 4, we will begin targeted preparation for the spring stage. It will consist of training sessions and friendly matches.