Sparrow: The skill level of Dynamo players did not allow them to compete with Benfica on equal terms

On Wednesday, August 17, Dynamo Kyiv lost to Benfica (0:2) in the first leg of the Champions League qualification play-off round. According to ex-forward of Shakhtar and the national team of Ukraine Andriy Vorobiy, the White-Blues lacked class and composure in the nominally home game.

– Before the game, everyone agreed that the favorite of this confrontation was Benfica. They have a strong roster, and newcomers are signed, the value of which exceeds 10 million euros. What did you see on the field of the stadium in Łódź?

– That’s all true, but in any match, each team has a chance to succeed. As Viktor Prokopenko said, don’t look for logic in football. From yesterday’s game, or rather, from the starting 10 minutes, it became clear that Benfica was very serious about this match. Of course, the Benfica players are more skilled than the Dynamo players. As a result, they opened the scoring thanks to their good attack, and then we all saw Tsygankov’s mistake. And even then, before the break, the guests could score a couple more goals. In the second half, the Portuguese club played strictly according to the result. For Benfica, the result of the first game is very good.

– Could Lucescu have been given the task to play strictly from defense, from the first minute of the meeting?

– Yes, the bus could be parked at your gate. But Dynamo played the way they were prepared. And if the first goal is the merit of the visiting players, then the second conceded goal completely ruined all the plans of our team.

— But when entering the field in the Champions League game with Benfica, you must always have a plan B. After all, it is clear that we could have missed.

– Of course, however, the level of skill of our players did not allow them to compete on equal terms with the opponent.

– Let’s move on to the goals conceded by Dynamo. Who is to blame for the first?

– Here you have to give credit to the opponent. They saturated the center of the box and allowed Gilbert to strike from a good position. Dubinchak was already in the penalty area, and Shepelev missed the guests’ right-back by a meter. Vladimir approached his opponent, but almost did not have time. In addition, Gilberto got between Shepelev’s legs and the ball slightly changed its trajectory and flew into the very corner of the goal.

– And how would you evaluate the careless pass of Tsygankov, which led to the interception of Neres and the goal of Ramush?

We are not robots. Everyone can be wrong. Of course, this is a childish mistake of Viktor Tsygankov. Vitya is an old-timer of Kyiv Dynamo and much is expected from him. Still, Tsygankov is a leader and has a set of qualities of a qualified player. But one may wonder where at that moment were the central midfielders of Dynamo. Popov was alone in his own penalty area against three opponents.

– At the 64th minute of the meeting, Mircea Lucescu replaced Tsygankov. With this replacement, the head coach of Dynamo will not finish off Tsygankov?

– Victor in the first half twice dangerously punched through the gates of Vlachimos. Probably, an experienced mentor saw that Tsygankov did not look like himself. Somewhere he got stuck. We know that if Victor’s game is not going well, then it is already difficult for him to get ready. He must have lost his morale.

– Let’s move on to a sore subject. Everyone can see that Dynamo does not have a bright striker. Besedin did not inflict a single blow on the opponent’s goal. His one shot in the opening of the meeting was offside. As an example, Kavavaev, who came on as a substitute, hit the Benfica goal twice. What should Lucescu do?

— Yes, there is such a problem. There is no scoring striker from Kiev. Besedin has a different role on the football field – he butts, runs. I’m sure it’s not enough. The forward must score goals. And Besedin should score not in the UPL, but in European competitions. It seems to me that already in the next matches Mircea Lucescu will try to put Vanat at the start. Yes, this is a different performer, but you need to try. Vanat scored a lot on young men. All the same, the head coach of the Dynamo team pulls him up to the base.

– Vivcharenko and Karavaev, who came on as a substitute, once again strengthened Dynamo’s game, and this is not the first time this has happened in the current Champions League. Why not put them in the starting lineup?

– Vivcharenko pleasantly surprises everyone. He is in good playing shape, not afraid to join attacks. Not immediately, gradually, but Vivcharenko becomes a serious figure. It can be assumed that he has a good football future. As for Karavaev, it can be assumed that the Dynamo mentor understood that there were few experienced guys on the bench. And he will need to strengthen the composition during the fight.

– With all this, the second half for the Dynamo team was better than the first half. For what?

– It seems to me that Benfica stopped playing football, having received a comfortable advantage in the score. Somewhere the guests stopped. And the people of Kiev were not able to crush the opponent.

– Did you like the youth that came to replace Dynamo?

– Yes. They were not afraid of an experienced enemy. These young players are the future of Dynamo Kyiv.

— Lucescu, at a press conference, said that Roman Yaremchuk, who is sitting on the bench, if he were playing in Dynamo now, would be the best player in the Ukrainian team. Why such a message?

– He wants to say once again that the people of Kiev do not have a real striker now. Roman is a good striker, but so far in Benfica he plays for 15-20 minutes.

– Did you like the actions of David Neres, who never played at Shakhtar because of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine?

— Of course, Neres is a good level player. It’s a pity that he never played in Shakhtar, but it happened. I also liked him in Benfica’s first game against Midtjylland, when he made two assists. David is a very fast player.

– Ahead of the Dynamo game in Lisbon. What can you expect there?

“We need to play and act to the maximum. There will be another game. Benfica at home and away are two different teams. In Lisbon, Benfica will act even stronger, and with the support of their fans.

– With a general failure in the confrontation with the Portuguese giants, Dynamo will play in the group stage of the Europa League. Maybe it’s for the best?

— Of course, we all want two Ukrainian teams to play in the group stage of the Champions League. But you need to really look at the situation. The Europa League is also a worthy tournament, where Manchester United, Arsenal, Roma, Lazio and other clubs will play this season. Having passed Fenerbahce and Sturm, Dynamo, in my opinion, completed the minimum task. Let’s see what will happen next.