The coach of Luhansk’s Zorya, Mladen Bartulovic, commented on the results of the Luhansk team in the February and March matches, as well as gave a prediction for the matches of the Ukrainian national team and the Croatian national team in the Nations League.
Mladen Bartulovic— Mladen, after the defeat against “Oleksandriya,” Zorya managed to regroup and deliver three good matches. You defeated “Rukh” and “Obolon,” and also drew with “Dynamo.” Please comment on these results!
— After the disappointing defeat against “Oleksandriya” in the first match after the winter break, I had concerns that such a result might psychologically impact the team. Because in principle, we showed good play but lost. Also, the game against “Rukh,” which is a good team, was very important for us. In this confrontation, it was crucial to achieve victory, which we managed to do. In the next match against “Obolon,” we continued in the same spirit. All that good work from the training camps we transferred to the Ukrainian championship. In the match against “Dynamo,” of course, the situation was difficult for us. But we managed to achieve a positive result. We are very satisfied with this. Now we have a break during which we need to analyze these four matches we played well. And we want to add more to everything because there is much to work on.
— Are you satisfied that Zorya managed to score in every match? Interestingly, you did it twice in three out of four games!
— Of course, we are pleased that we started scoring more. In the second round, we paid more attention to converting chances in training, as well as offensive actions and interactions. Goals are the result of this! Results come only through work.
— In these matches, Philip Budkivsky scored 2 goals. Do you think he is handling the role of leader and captain? And also, Petar Michin managed to score a winning brace against “Obolon.” What do you say about Michin’s game?
— These are our leaders both on the field and off it. I believe they are fulfilling their duties well. They set an example for everyone else. And the fact that they score goals is another additional plus for us.
— The match with “Dynamo” turned out to be very interesting. By the 9th minute, you had scored 2 goals! Was there a goal to score early?
— I will say this: in every game we try to set the guys up for an aggressive start. And this is done regardless of who the opponent is. And it happened that we entered the game well against “Dynamo.” Maybe “Dynamo” didn’t expect such an aggressive start from us. We managed to take advantage of this. And it turned out that we scored two goals in 8 minutes.
— Do you think Zorya deserved the victory in this match against “Dynamo”?
— It was a very good game from us, especially in the first half, where we had moments and could have scored a third goal. There were also moments to score! But we didn’t score. But it’s worth noting that “Dynamo” also had enough moments to score more. In principle, we are satisfied with the end result of this game, namely the draw. But, of course, you always want to win (laughs).
— Austrian Gabriel Eskinja played the entire match against “Dynamo.” What do you say about Eskinja’s game, who was lucky to make it to the starting lineup and play against the Kyiv team?
— Regarding Eskinja, I will say that this was his first game in the second round. And we are generally satisfied with how he performed on the field in the match against “Dynamo.” He played this match at a good level, despite the fact that it was his first game in the starting lineup of Zorya after the winter training camp. Eskinja is a young player with great potential. We hope Gabriel will continue to develop well.
— Kiril Drishliuk also managed to play against “Dynamo.” What do you say about his performance?
— Regarding Drishliuk, I can add that Kiril played little before this match against “Dynamo.” Other players were playing. But Kiril played at a good level against the Kyiv team. We are also very satisfied with how he performed in this match against “Dynamo.”
— Many are interested in what form Supryaga is in. Do you think Vlad can still improve his level this season?
— Regarding Supryaga, I will say that he generally had a good training camp. He gained good form. But in one of the matches, he received a strong blow to the leg. As a result, Supryaga had an injury and fell out of the squad for a while. And then he got sick too. Now Vlad has returned to the main group and is starting to regain his form again.
— This season, your team has 10 matches left to play. Do you think Zorya can enter the top 4 by the end of this campaign?
— I don’t want to make any predictions. We prepare from game to game. This is the only task we have at hand. We still have 9 and a half matches to play. We will go from game to game. And at the end of the season, we will see what our final place will be.
— How do you prepare during the break for the national teams? Will you play any friendlies, perhaps?
— We had a few days off after the match against “Dynamo.” We gathered at our base. We will play a game in Kudrivka on March 18. And on March 23, we will play a friendly match against “Obolon.” Then we will go into a weekly cycle and purposefully prepare for the match against “Kolos,” which will take place on March 30.
— Very interesting matches await us at the national level. Croatia and France will face each other in the Nations League. What is your prediction for these matches?
— It is difficult to make any predictions for such games against such a strong opponent. But I hope that Croatia will perform decently in these matches and can beat the French. I believe we can do this, despite the high level of the opponent.
— And Ukraine will play against Belgium in the Nations League. What do you expect from these matches?
— I hope that Ukraine can beat the Belgians and advance further. That’s all I wish for Ukraine! I believe that Ukraine has all the capabilities in the matches against the Belgians since they are undergoing a generational change. I think that everything is possible for Ukrainians in this confrontation.
Dmytro Kotkov
