FC Dynamo Kyiv president Ihor Surkis has commented upon the game against FC LNZ Cherkasy (1:0) and shared his expectations of the Europa League campaign.
- It’s really hard that guys constantly move from one city to another. Today’s win wasn’t easy. LNZ were prepared. There’s a huge difference between getting ready throughout a week and moving and playing every 2-3 days. That’s very hard. But we have a wide range of players and we’ve got three points.
- The new Europa League format must be even harder for you considering that now you’re actually going to play eight away games?
- That’s right. There practically won’t be winter vacation as the last game will be played on January 14 or 15. But we have to give players 2-3 weeks off. This is a kind of experiment for us and I hope it will be a success.
- Do you like this euro cups format in general?
- I can’t say yet. We’ll see. It’s very difficult for us as was is on in our country and we can’t play at home ground. This is extremely hard, but guys are professionals. They need to recondition, besides there must be lineup rotation. No once cancels the goals we set.
- The start of the season was quite emotional. What did you like the most?
- I liked the way the team approached the Champions League qualifiers, beat a tough team. Those games were more about politics than about football, we all understand that. It was very important to outplay those who play in russia while our children, women and warriors die. We flattened them 9:2 on aggregate. Then we succeeded against Rangers and faced RB Salzburg – very good team with players worth 15-20 millions. Sometimes you’re lucky in football, sometimes you aren’t. We were totally unlucky although we could win.
- Are RB Salzburg better than Dynamo?
- They aren’t. If Yarmolenko used his chances in the first leg... Shaparenko could score late in the second leg with eight minutes remaining plus the stoppage time… Things happen in football. Now we’ll do our best to perform decently in the Europa League.
- It seems the Europa League isn’t far behind the Champions League in terms of participants?
- Sure. Lazio, Roma are teams that totally can perform in the Champions League. Galatasaray are champions of their country. These games will demonstrate what we’re capable of and what we still need to improve. It’s expensive and difficult to sign foreign players as the war is on. As for players invited by Polissia, LNZ and other teams… We saw these players today. We were supposed to score 3-4 and close the game.
Dynamo represent our country decently, so I think we need really good performers. Back in the day we could sign them, but today we have a young Ukrainian team. Our academy works properly. Mykhavko is making headway with every game. Popov and Shaparenko had health issues today. Buialskyi was sick for three weeks. There were some problems, but guys who took the field proved they can replace those who can’t play.
- You used to say that it’s better to win in the Europa League than to lose in the Champions League. What do you think of that today?
- Let’s be honest, today’s Europa League differs from what it used to be. We didn’t play Roma or Lazio before, but now we’ll oppose face. I watched Lazio Saturday game against Milan. They’re a tough team, but we can oppose anyone.
- Dynamo won three starting games of the UPL season while Shakhtar started poorly. Do you tell players they need to use that?
- First of all we need to be focused on ourselves. We could lose points to LNZ even though totally controlled the game. We must win to reach our common goal – bring gold back to Kyiv and perform decently in the Europa League.
- How many points will be satisfactory for you?
- As far as I understand, 14-15 points guarantee the top eight spot while 9-10 mean a play-off.
- Have you counted the money already?
- I don’t count the money. I wasn’t upset we lost those as we didn’t qualify for the Champions League. Players deserved that, but didn’t manage this time. Well that’s fine, we’ll perform in the Europa League.
