Lucescu: Although we’ve lost, it was a good game

FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach Mircea Lucescu answered media questions after the Champions League qualification play-off round first leg against SL Benfica (0:2).

- A tough game for us. We had some scoring chances, but didn’t use those. I guess there’s no use comparing the two sides. Benfica have a multinational team of top level while we had 18-19-year-old players on the field, who graduated from the Academy recently.

I guess if we had Sydorchuk in the midfield, we wouldn’t have conceded twice. His experience would have been of great use. I don’t think it’s okay that we’ve already played four matches and lost our key performer due to suspension while some teams started qualification from scratch.

So, we lacked important players, made some mistakes and conceded. Afterwards we dominated and had three-four opportunities, but then another mistakes resulted in the second goal. After that it was hardly possible to count on success.

In the second half we could score too, but so could Benfica. Basically the match was interesting for fans, but for me it wasn’t as I believed we could win. I hope players will demonstrate everything they’re capable of in the second leg. Today I congratulate Benfica on victory.

- You said Benfica played more aggressively early in the game…
- I expected referee to do something about it, but the yellow card never happened. When seven-eight players attack, lose possession, we have a counterattack interrupted with foul, experienced European level referee must penalize that with a booking. But there was no reaction. That’s a disaster… Still I want to emphasize that the referee didn’t influence the final score.

- What do you think of Benfica potential transfers before the second leg?
- That’s not my issues. Let’s take Roman Yaremchuk, for instance. He would have been the best one in Dynamo, but in Benfica he’s a substitute. That’s the difference… But actually our team did pretty well today.

- Did the early concede goal make you change the tactics?
- As I’ve said, we had to let youngsters take the field. Vanat and Vivcharenko are 20, Tsarenko is 18. This level is too much for players, who make their first appearances for the team, but that’s a great experience. At the moment we don’t have a lot of attacking options… But again, although we’ve lost, it was a good game.

- What do you think of the atmosphere at the stadium?
- It was fantastic. Thanks, everyone, for coming. I hope fans enjoyed the game.