Kyiv Dynamo players have made the most resounding anti-surprise in the Champions League, losing a home game to Maribor, Slovenia, 0:1.
Only the most devoted Dynamo fans came to watch the match. The majority thought the match would be pretty bland, lacking intrigue. Our Dynamo boys are sure to make short work of any outsider, thought many.
In reality, things turned out quite differently. The Slovenes, who perhaps will not set the world on fire and are rather straightforward, still know their way around the pitch. But the Dynamo boys, to our great regret, again failed to rise to the occasion. It was completely unclear by what means they were going to break down their rival's airtight defense.
No doubt, the Kyivans are now far from in their best shape. Belkevych, Khatskevych, and Yashkin, the team's leaders, are suffering from injuries. Still, the frequent, if chaotic, attacks that did not create even one really goal-fraught situation and brought forth only disappointment. Territorial advantage did not translate into game superiority. The guests' counterattacks were both simple and effective. One of them ended in a goal. Incorrigible optimists compare the setback at the hands of Maribor with last year's failure in Athens. But then, the Kyivans really dominated an away match, and only bad luck stood in their way. Nor did they draw a lesson from the match against O Alborg, making the same stupid mistake.
And about the fans. Yes, there were very few of them at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday. But the point is not in Maribor. Of course, we have gotten used to matches with Juventus, Real, Barcelona, and, finally, France, the world champions. But the fan always comes to the grandstand, above all, to root for the home team and see what a fine game this team will show. Dynamo's performers more and more often leave the native shore. And while the loss of Maksymov and Kalytvyntsev was not all that painful, we clearly saw the result of last summer's sale of Shevchenko and Luzhny on Tuesday night in the Olympic Stadium grandstand.







