Former midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Valentin Moskvyn, who has played at the club level for “Prykarpattia,” “Dnipro,” “Kryvbas,” and Israeli “Hapoel” (Kfar Sava), shared his expectations for our representatives in the qualification matches of the European cups:
— The matches between Kyiv’s “Dynamo” and Tel Aviv’s “Maccabi” have always been fiercely competitive. I am confident that today’s match in the Europa League, taking place in the Serbian city of Bačka Topola, will be no exception.
“Maccabi” is an ambitious club that always sets the highest goals for itself in the domestic arena. Interestingly, there are many foreigners in the ranks of the Tel Aviv team, but most of them do not play leading roles. In my opinion, the winner of this pairing will be decided in the return match next week in Lublin, Poland. But today a peaceful agreement will be signed — 1:1.
As for “Shakhtar,” I believe that “the miners” will prevail in Krakow — 2:0. In previous matches against the Greek “Panathinaikos” in the Europa League, Donetsk faced personnel issues. Today, Oleg Ocheretko will not help due to suspension, but Georgiy Sudakov has returned to the lineup, and all fans hope that Kevin, whose absence against “Panathinaikos” was strongly felt, will also take to the field. After all, “Servette” is lower in preparation level than the Greeks, plus the Swiss are still not in fighting shape.
I also did not hurry to prematurely write off the Polissians, who have a qualified coaching staff and fairly quality players. Of course, the preparation level of “Fiorentina” is higher, but we must not forget that cup competitions have their own laws, where the rule often applies: order beats class. Therefore, a lot will depend on the tactics chosen by Rotan, and whether his players are ready to leap higher than their heads. I lean towards the idea that “Polissia” will surprise, challenge “Fiorentina,” and everything will end in a scoreless draw.