Dnipro coach Oleksandr Kutser spoke about Panathinaikos’ great quality in midfield at the press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game (25.07., 21:00, COSMOTE SPORT 1HD) first game of the two teams for the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

The Ukraine coach stressed that qualifying for the groups of top club competition is a dream for his team and stressed that his team should remain calm in the game against Panathinaikos.

Kutcher’s press conference in detail:

– How much will the European experience gained by the team last season help you in the upcoming games?

“This is our second season in Europe, but it’s a different tournament. Qualifying for the Champions League is the strongest club competition in the world. For us it is a new competition that we are preparing for. We did everything we planned. I think we’re going into these games in good shape.”

– Why was Kozice chosen as headquarters?

“We already have the experience of performing abroad. Now it is convenient for us in terms of location, because we are based in Uzorod and the distance from here is only 90 kilometers. We played here last season, we liked everything, we were well received here, so why not?”

– And what about your home base now and how do you play all the away games?

“Yes, there is a war in our country at the moment, so we cannot host home opponents in European competitions. Now we are in Uzorod, where we train and host league opponents, but there is an opportunity to return to the Dnipro Arena.”

Yes, we don’t have fans away and this situation is quite awkward because football players also need fans in the stands because they help and create excitement. And the European Cup games are a great encouragement for that because the fans help us here and the kids enjoy playing in front of a packed crowd.”.

– What are your ambitions for this season?

“Judging by last year, we had very good support in Kozice. We hope that we will feel that tomorrow, both from the Ukrainians and from the Slovaks. We really need this support because it helps us.”

As for next season, of course there is a desire to play in the strongest competition, we dream of it, but we understand that we have a very difficult game ahead of us because a very good team will play against us. We will do our best to achieve a positive result.”

– Do you also feel responsible that, if you are successful, you can already secure your participation in Europa League groups?

“We are maximalists. We have to win every game. That’s why we mustn’t think that we can secure a place in the Europa League in the autumn. We are currently playing in the Champions League qualifier. Let’s play here and dream of the Champions League.”.

– The draw was made for the next round (Marseille). Doesn’t knowing a potential opponent affect your preparation for the game?

“No, we are concentrating on the Panathinaikos game and now all our thoughts are only on tomorrow’s game. This game will have two halves, the first in Kosice and the second in Athens.”

That there is an opponent after that is not so important now, but we have to solve the problem with Panathinaikos. Then let’s look at the rest. And planning something in advance if you haven’t done all the work yet, I don’t see the point in it..

– How did you try to compensate for the lack of measures in preparation?

“Of course, the level of the opponents we had in the training camp is lower, although I don’t want to offend anyone, but that’s the reality, because the championship of Ukraine and the Champions League are different tournaments. We used what we could and fielded the lads, although of course we didn’t have opponents from the top football countries. But the lads have been trained to be fully focused in those games and put in maximum effort to push it all through to the official games.”.

– What will be decisive in tomorrow’s game?

“Winning, of course (laughs). We had no previous experience of such games: me as a coach and the players. The main thing is to be calm, trust in ourselves and in our actions. The footballers have to do what we agreed, so that they transfer all this onto the field and of course have the desire to win, so that the fans can see that the footballers want to win. This wish will give him strength.”.

– What is the biggest threat to Panathinaikos and what should you watch out for?

“This team is very balanced, experienced and has a good attacking line where you can assess everyone and every player is a goal threat and every one of them can make a decision. Very good team and we have to be careful and responsible towards the opponent all the time.”.

Dnipro players were represented by goalkeeper Yakov Kinareikin:

First, he talked about the Dnipro goalkeepers: “Of course, competition always stimulates and will spur you on. You can’t be the best without competition and in every training session you want to prove that you’re the one playing and number one.”.

He commented on the game against Panathinaikos: “Of course we feel responsible, because a lot depends on us. That’s the mood of our fans and the qualification for Europe in autumn. Of course we want to do it now so we don’t have to worry about it later.”