“I believe it’s going to be a tough match for us. We’ll see.” “Soccer is unpredictable, even when you’re certain you’re going into an easy game, it proves difficult, and vice versa,” asserted the Ukrainian footballer.

The fullback from Dynamo Kiev, Vladyslav Dubinchak, gave an interview to ukrfootball.ua ahead of their Europa League clash against Roma, scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 18:45. The Ukrainian shared insights about his relationship with Dovbyk, his former colleague at Dnipro. Here are his passionate words. “You played quite a bit for Dnipro-1, with teammates like Artem Dovbyk. Did you ever anticipate his transfers to Girona and Roma?” “At that time, we had an excellent team. It can be said that we have grown up together. When we arrived there, none of us had a name in the world of football. In essence, we were all average boys, skilled footballers, but none of us held great importance in the Ukrainian soccer scene. We all worked hard, if one of us started to stand out, the others were eager to prove their worth too. Pikhalyonok, Hutsulyak, and Ignatenko were commendable lads. These boys were beckoned by the national teams, etching their names in the annals of the sporting world. “The same Dovbyk”.

If everything is going relatively well for Dynamo in the Ukrainian championship, how do you plan to handle the situation in the Europa League, where a European match against Roma and your old friend Artem Dovbyk awaits? “As soon as I found out that Roma would be playing against us, I wrote to him immediately. Artem responded to me saying, “Get ready, the atmosphere will be insane.” I think it’s going to be a challenging match for us. We shall see. Football is unpredictable, even when you’re sure you’re playing an easy match, it turns out to be difficult – and vice versa: you may expect a tough opponent ahead, but the game can become easier than you think. I wouldn’t want to hastily jump to conclusions. Everything depends on the state we find ourselves in and how we play the game. “The technical team knows how to prepare us well and distribute our forces efficiently.”