FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi has commented upon the narrow win against FK RFS in the Europa League matchday 8 game (1:0):
- Last time Dynamo won euro cups groups stage game in 2020 (1:0 against Ferencvarosi). It’s been five years and 20 matches. What does this victory mean to you?
- A win is a win, but to be honest this is not what we hoped for beginning this group stage. We’ll keep analyzing every game, but we won’t focus only final score. By focusing solely on the score you let emotions impact your perception of these or those aspects.
Today’s game didn’t matter from the point of view, but it did matter from the point of view of Dynamo reputation.
- Dynamo played two Europa League in January and reached positive outcome in both. Did better logistics impact that?
- Sure. No matter what they say, logistics always matters and these two games prove that.
- Why was Karavayev absent today?
- We couldn’t count on Brazhko, Karavayev, Dubinchak, Shaparenko. There’s some kind of virus in the team. Besides, Buialskyi got injured in the game against Galatasaray.
- Did you feel fans’ support?
- We’re thankful to them. Of course it’s always better to play in front full stands. Our players felt that in Istanbul. Support is extremely important, but we mustn’t give in to emotions in any case. We must stick to certain structure, formation and plan no matter what.
Supporters give players extra motivation, inspiration do demonstrate the best they’ve got. We must run forward, but it’s also important to remember about a certain order.
- Dynamo will play the next game almost in a month. How will you be getting ready? Has your training program changed due to the Europa League?
- It’s actually a new reality for us as we’d never played official games in January before. I’d say we’ve completed the first stage of the training camp. Now we’ll let players have some rest.
On February 4, we’ll start preparations for the second part of the season. Those will include a training process and some friendlies.
