Today, July 29, "Dynamo" will play the return match of the second qualifying round of the Champions League against "Hamrun". Recall that in the first match, the Ukrainian team defeated the Maltese with a score of 3:0. Will this meeting be difficult for the protégés of Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, and what are the expectations for today’s game of the "white-blues," former player of the capital team Oleksandr Prizetko said.
— Oleksandr Serhiyovych, despite the convincing victory in the first match, "Dynamo" has faced significant criticism from experts for their not very confident play.
— I believe that this is not entirely fair. Yes, I cannot say that everything was fine in the Kyiv team’s game, but I attribute that to the start of the season. This was the first official match, so somewhere anxiety and somewhere uncertainty may have restrained the actions of Oleksandr Shovkovskyi’s protégés.
In the first 10-15 minutes, the Dynamo players allowed the opponent to breathe easily, but then, even with the flaws that were in the game of the Ukrainians, it was clear that these are two teams of different levels.
— Is the fate of the ticket to the next round of the Champions League decided?
— Of course. There should not be any questions about this at all. I hope that in the upcoming match we will already see a liberated "Dynamo". There is a good result from the first game, the Kyiv team has already studied their opponent well, so I expect from the Dynamo players a higher quality, I would say, more beautiful football. Today we will see a different "Dynamo".
— What goals will Oleksandr Shovkovskyi pursue with his players in the match against "Hamrun"?
— It is difficult for me to say. It seems to me that Oleksandr Shovkovskyi is a pragmatist, so, again, in my opinion, the coach will field those players who look better. Yes, it can be said for sure that due to injury, Vitaliy Buyalskyi will not play. But I do not expect any major experiments from the coach.
— What is your prediction?
— I think that Kyiv will perform better in terms of score. I bet on — 4:0.
— Finally, I cannot help but touch on the topic of our other teams in European cups. Who, in your opinion, will advance to the next stage of the competition?
— If "Shakhtar" shows the football they played in Turkey, they will cope with "Besiktas". "Oleksandriya" will find it difficult to recover two goals conceded from "Partizan" in the first match. But "Polissia" simply must rehabilitate themselves. After the first game, there was quite a serious residue, so over the past week the team must draw conclusions and the Zhytomyr team should show the football, and most importantly the result, that they should demonstrate in the confrontation with teams like "Santa Coloma".
Oleh Vakhotskyi
