After the second-leg match in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, in which Dynamo Kyiv won 1:0 but were eliminated 2:3 on aggregate, Dynamo's head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi answered questions from the media.
- Dynamo was knocked out first from the Champions League and now from the Europa League, losing to teams that are not necessarily considered the strongest. Who do you think is responsible for this result?
- We lost to a team that will be playing in the group stage of the Champions League. If you think they're not strong enough... Of course the result depends on the head coach and the team's performance on the field. If we talk about today's game, we lost it in the first match due to a red card and mistakes that led to us conceding two goals. We had a chance today to come back from that deficit but we lacked individual skill in finishing. That's why we ended up with this result.
You mention that we never lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in our previous meetings but you can't compare those times to now, when the country is at war. Last night there was one of the strongest missile strikes in Ukraine, and at the moment, 23 people have been confirmed dead, with the rubble still being cleared. When we woke up this morning, the first thing we did was read the news, speak to our loved ones, and had to go and play under such conditions. You're comparing completely different times and games with Maccabi from 10 years ago and beyond. I believe it's inappropriate.
If you noticed today we went onto the field with armbands as a sign of support for our people and respect, as Friday was declared a day of mourning in Kyiv.
- The situation regarding Mykola Shaparenko's substitution was a bit unclear. What happened there?
- Every player has certain superstitions. From what I understand, the referee didn’t let him onto the field because he had an amulet on his arm which is very important to him. That’s why we couldn’t make two substitutions at once, even though the player who Shaparenko was meant to replace, had already left the pitch. If we had made that substitution, we would have lost our last substitution slot.
- What are Dynamo's plans for the UEFA Conference League? What are the team's objectives, considering it will be your first time competing in this tournament?
- We will approach every match with full focus and do everything we can. Starting tomorrow we will begin preparing for the next Ukrainian Premier League match, then there will be a short break where we can take some time to analyze the situation. It’s been almost two months since we left Kyiv, and we haven’t returned yet.
