On Thursday, August 28, in the return match of the playoff round of the Europa League qualifiers, Kyiv’s Dynamo defeated Israeli Maccabi (Tel Aviv) with a score of 1:0, but based on the aggregate score of two matches (1:3, 1:0), they could not advance to the main stage of the tournament (now the Kyiv team will compete in the main stage of the Conference League). The match took place in Lublin at the Arena Lublin stadium. We present to you the post-match press conference of the head coach of the Israeli team, Zharko Lazetic.
Zharko Lazetic. Photo — A. PopovWhat prevented your team from resolving the outcome of this confrontation in the first half?
First of all, I would like to wish Dynamo a speedy return to normalcy and to hold home matches on their own field again. I say this from the bottom of my heart.
As for our missed opportunities, I would like to focus not on that, but on the fact that we played the game as we had planned. The quickly conceded goal pushed us to play better: our game became sharper and more balanced.
We are very glad that we were able to reach the main stage of the Europa League, we will fight against strong teams there and strive to show good football as well.
You, like Dynamo, are also not playing at your stadium right now. Does this create any problems for you, or does it not affect anything?
I understand all this, but we have to come to terms with the reality that exists now: we, like Dynamo, are forced to play on foreign fields. I wish us to return to our places, because, first of all, we play for our fans.
Nevertheless, we strive to show our game on any field. And so far, the current situation has not affected the quality of our game: we are showing the football we want to present.
Alexander POPOV from Lublin
