Kostyuk: Draw with Universitatea is not a disaster, but we have to improve in attack

Dynamo Kyiv head coach Ihor Kostyuk shared his thoughts after his side’s goalless draw against Universitatea Cluj in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Playing their first official match of the season at Arena Lublin in Poland, the White-Blues could not find the net. Kostyuk admitted the team lacked sharpness and precision in the final third. "We created chances but failed to convert them. That said, this was only the first half of our tie. In the first half of the match we were too cautious. There was some nervousness – not enough forward passes, too many sideways balls. The opponent defended well, and we lacked aggression, vertical passes and accuracy in the finishing phase. On the positive side, we had the upper hand, handled transitions well, and barely let them create dangerous chances after we lost the ball. But going forward, we missed individual quality and confidence," the coach said. Kostyuk also addressed the unexpected power outage that interrupted play. "We were on top, creating chances, but that break disrupted our rhythm and slowed the game down. I think it benefited the opponent more. After the restart, there were about ten minutes left, but we couldn’t create enough threats or convert our opportunities. We just had to finish the game," he explained. The return leg is scheduled for Thursday, July 16, at Cluj Arena in Romania, kicking off at 20:30 Kyiv time. Kostyuk noted that the team is still short of optimal match fitness and promised improvements ahead of the second leg.