Former Kyiv 'Dynamo' striker Victor Leonenko shared his expectations for today’s match of his former team against Bosnian 'Zrinjski' in the 3rd round of the main stage of the Conference League.
Victor Leonenko— Victor Yevhenovych, what do you expect from the 'Dynamo' vs 'Zrinjski' match?
— I asked Rykun: «What kind of team is this?». He replied that he didn’t know. I said: «So maybe it’s some kind of drink, judging by the name, or medicine?». It’s very hard to judge an opponent you haven’t seen. And if we take the last two games of 'Dynamo' against 'Shakhtar', both our teams love conceding, which is very alarming. Defense is the weakest link, both in 'Shakhtar' and 'Dynamo'.
And Kyivans have developed a bad habit — they don’t shoot at the goal in the first half. Are they not taught this? I wish 'Dynamo' would shoot at 'Zrinjski' goal and create moments because without moments, football isn’t worth watching.
No matter what, 'Zrinjski' is the champion of its country, so a draw for 'Dynamo' would be a success. Although I want 'Dynamo' to win, even if by chance. I hope 'Dynamo' and 'Shakhtar' gain at least some points in the coefficient table because otherwise, we’ll have to play through qualification again just to reach the Conference League. As for the Champions League and Europa League, I won’t even mention them.
— 'Dynamo' in the Conference League has 0 points and 0 goals scored (losses to 'Crystal Palace' 0:2 and to 'Samsunspor' 0:3). In turn, 'Zrinjski' defeated 'Lincoln' 5:0 and narrowly lost to 'Mainz' 0:1. What does this indicate?
— It indicates that it will be very difficult for 'Dynamo'. We’ll test my gut feeling, even without looking at the opponent.
— Will Shovkovskyi continue to use Yarmolenko as the central forward against 'Zrinjski'?
— He’s not any forward; he’s just placed there. I think Yarmolenko himself knows that he is not a forward.
— Then why do they place him there and not Guerrero or Blenuță?
— First, Yarmolenko scored against 'Shakhtar', although Guerrero came on and scored too. Secondly, Andriy is probably just liked by the head coach. Though I think even Yarmolenko disagrees that he is a central forward. It’s not enough to hold the ball; you also need to shoot at the goal.
Andriy Piskun
