Former striker of Kyiv’s Dynamo Viktor Khlus shared his expectations for the return match of the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League, in which Kyiv’s Dynamo will face Tel Aviv’s Maccabi
Viktor Khlus— After today’s terrible night in the capital, football has taken a back seat. However it is, life goes on. As for the match between Dynamo and Maccabi, there are few positive expectations. If we analyze it, right now there is no one to strengthen the Kyiv team. And no matter how much it is said: we will beat Maccabi or that or another opponent, a pertinent question arises—on what account? After all, there is no reserve, there are no resources. If there were and they allowed us to look at it with optimism, then we would view the result of today’s match against the Tel Aviv club more positively. Right now, football is so unpredictable that the game can go either way. Everything depends on the players’ mindset, on the tactics chosen by the coach, and on subjective reasons. So personally for me, there is less positivity than negativity.
—One should guess that in today’s match, Dynamo will start running to score a quick goal from the first minutes. But could our team perhaps face a counter-attack that could lead to troubles?
— As I said above: football is unpredictable. You know, you can make just one attack and score one goal. And you can make ten attacks and not score anything. Therefore, this is exactly the case where a lot depends on the coach’s tactics. If it presupposes high pressing and speed from the first minutes, then that would be absolutely the right decision. However, on the condition that Dynamo has order at the back. But if we fail somewhere on a quick counterattack, then that will suggest that the tactics were chosen incorrectly. In the case of maintaining a high pace and high pressing, there are grounds to hope for a positive result for us. Finally, I would like to wish our footballers that there are as few nights like tonight as possible.
Andriy Pysarenko
