- Unai Emery has mentioned that current Dynamo resemble him Shakhtar under your charge that opposed his Sevilla. Do you agree with that?
- I take it as a compliment as Shakhtar used to play very spectacular football. I remember that game in Lviv. We did a good job, but Sevilla were a great team and won the Europa League later.
- They call Unai Emery the Europa League specialist as he’s won this competition several times. Does this mean anything to you?
- One shouldn’t separate different competitions. Coach prepares his team for every game. Emery is a really good specialist, who always analyzes every aspect from the point of view of tactics. Villarreal have a lot of experienced performers, especially comparing with our lineup.
They’ve been featuring in the La Liga for quite a while and all clubs know each other very well there, so it’s difficult to surprise someone. Meanwhile, on European arena they do it all the time. I’ve watched Villarreal matches. They’ve played a lot of good games within the last several years. They’re orderly and balanced team.
- Some say that reaching the round of 16 is already success for current Dynamo. Do you agree that your major priority at the moment is victory in domestic league?
- There’re no such priorities. Every following game is the most important one. Victories give enthusiasm, joy and good mood which benefits players. I don’t want Dynamo to make a step back.
- What about injuries issues? How do Tsyhankov and Verbic feel?
- We have lineup problems due to injuries, but for me the first team are all those, who take the field and replace injured ones.Verbic is supposed of recover by the end of April. Burda and Baluta will miss quite a lot. I hope Popov will be back in 3-4 days. As for Tsyhankov, we’ll see how he feels at the training session today. He rejoined the team yesterday. Harmash has missed a lot, so he needs time to recondition.
