After defeating her Dynamo Kyiv in the first match between them in “Kl. Vikelidis”, the Mars will try tomorrow (17/08) in Bucharest to “lock” the qualification to the Conference League playoffs.
The coach of the Ukrainians, Mircea Lucescu, he referred to the difficult mission of his team, but also to how his team will be affected by the fact that they will be playing away from their natural home.
What Mircea Lucescu said in detail:
For the match in Bucharest: “Last year we played in Poland, it was not easy for us. This year we said it was closer to coming here. I am happy that we are playing in Bucharest, I hope that many fans will come to support us, they want their support. When we played away, the Greek fans were next to their team, it is not… fair play which will be as we know now in Bucharest”.
In support of Romanian Rapid fans: “I know they had some good results and for sure that would be good, to have a good mentality and come to our match as well. But they lost in their last game and I don’t know how much that will affect their psychology. I expect the support of the Ukrainians living in Bucharest.”
On whether he feels pressure, especially since they are playing on a neutral ground: “Of course I feel pressure to pass but I’m not afraid. You don’t know what deal I have with the president. We lost foreign players and Ukrainians who went abroad but we have a young team that has started to learn to play such games and we will show up ready. We are talking about our own team, but let’s not forget Greek football. Panathinaikos qualified at the expense of Marseille, having several foreign players, which also applies to Aris. It has many foreign experienced players. We must present ourselves organized and with enthusiasm, with great motivation to show that we are a better team.
I want everyone to understand, we want the support of the fans, it is difficult to play in empty stands and start every match with a minute’s silence. We traveled 23 hours to Thessaloniki, the brother of one of our players died in the war and this is hard to accept and understand easily. That is why our players deserve respect for what they are doing right now. Several Ukrainians are at war and trying to see us. We too live in a difficult situation”.
On the state of his players and if he had problems: “All players are ready except Denis Popov who is injured and will not play.”
Source: Sport Fm
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