FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach Mircea Lucescu and team captain Serhiy Sydorchuk answered journalists’ questions before the Champions League 2nd qualifying round 1st leg against Fenerbahce SK.
Serhiy Sydorchuk
Fenerbahce are probably the strongest team we could face. Chances are equal, but we hope to succeed.
We’ll be playing against Fenerbahce for Ukraine, for people defending our country.
Mircea Lucescu
- Mister, what do you think of training facilities Dynamo had in Uniejow, where Dynamo were getting ready for the match?
- Everything was great. After the game we’ll return there to get ready for the second leg.
- Ukraine national team also played important games at this stadium. Is this why you decided to host Fenerbahce here?
- We decided to play in Poland as we know we’ll have fans’ support here. There’re a lot of Ukrainians here, so the atmosphere is going to be great.
- You opposed Jorge Jesus last season. What do you think of his teams’ style?
- I didn’t play against Jorge Jesus, Dynamo played against Benfica. As for Jesus, he’s a very professional experienced specialist. I like his teams’ style. He knows me well too.
Last season Benfica did great under the charge of Jesus. They defeated Barcelona twice. Fenerbahce are also really good team, who signed a number of experienced performers this summer. Their oldest newcomers are 29-30. They used to feature in European top leagues. For example, Joshua King, Lincoln, Bruma, Willian Arao.
Anyway, we’ve got decent team too. We’ve been playing together for about two years. I hope my players will manage to forget about horrors happening in Ukraine at least for a while and focus on the game.
The match is very important. Not only to Dynamo fans, but to all people of Ukraine who want us to win.
- You used to work in Turkey for quite a while. Does this make the match more special to you?
- My thoughts and feelings don’t matter in this situation. What happened as I worked in Turkey is history already. I have great memories as I spent much time there and had really good relationships with supporters. We treat each other with respect.
- How difficult is it to get ready for the Champions League without domestic league game practice?
- It’s quite difficult. We didn’t have permanent location, but travelled Europe as we had charity tour. It was very important as thus we united Ukrainian refugees so that they could feel as part of the family. I can only thank my guys, who played for Ukraine. We tried to give all of them equal amount of game practice to get them ready for matches against Fenerbahce. It wasn’t easy as a lot of players featured for national teams till June 15. They needed rest. Anyway, I think the team is in good shape at the moment.
