Lucescu: 1-0 is not so much, Sturm can win back

The Dynamo Kyiv head coach shared his expectations from the Champions League qualifying match.

Dynamo is preparing for a tough match against Sturm in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Mircea Lucescu spoke about it in the pre-match press conference.

According to the head coach of Dynamo, in addition to the fact that the people of Kiev are deprived of the support of their own fans because of the war in Ukraine, the organizers also set the Kyiv club to play the second qualifying match away, which if which is very unfair in the current situation.

“It will be very difficult, but not only because we don’t have official matches, but because the players don’t have families in Ukraine, Romania, Poland. We must play these matches, but the players must also see their family and children, to spend time with them, but they don’t have that opportunity – that’s the hardest thing. They have to continue playing matches, because that’s their profession, they have to achieve results, because there are many depends on what the players will show on the football field.

We are not playing in our own stadium, without the support of Ukrainian fans. We conduct classes in the same field where around 200 children are trained. But we have to smile because life goes on.

In addition, we almost lost the opportunity to make transfers. Some of our players left the team, in particular, Verbic, de Pena, Vitinho and others, so we continue to train with the rest of the group and rely on the graduates of the Dynamo Academy. All Ukrainians are now in our team, including the Pole Tomasz Kendzera, whose wife is Ukrainian, and he decided to stay in Ukraine, which is good for us.

We played the first match with Fenerbahc at home, now with Sturm, and if we go further, we will also play with Benfica at home. This is not correct, because the opponents have the opportunity to play 120 minutes on their field, but we do not have such an opportunity – this is another difficulty for us. In fact, 1:0 is not much, Sturm could win, but hopefully it won’t come to that.

It’s not easy to play two extra stages away from home because, for example, Fenerbahce fans are incredible, they create a great atmosphere in the stands. And we are supported only at home matches by women and children who left Ukraine for Poland during the war.

Of course, it’s important for players to feel the fans behind them, pushing them forward. This is another big problem for the coach and the players who are forced to play in such conditions. But victory will be even more amazing, we will be doubly happy,” Dynamo’s official website quoted Lucescu as saying.

It will be remembered that today, August 9, is the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League Sturm – Dynamo. The match will take place at the Mercure Arena in Graz, Austria. The game’s starting whistle will sound at 21:30 Kyiv time.

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