belfasttelegraph

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Dinamo fearing the pain barrier

Dinamo Moscow coach Andrey Kobelev will use the pain suffered by AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final defeat by Liverpool to prevent overconfidence against Celtic in the third qualifying round second leg tomorrow night.

Despite his side leading 1-0 from last Wednesday's first leg at Celtic Park against a club who have not won away from home in Europe in six years and have never overturned a first-leg deficit when the second game has been away from Glasgow, Kobelev said: “I'll be disappointed if we don't go through.

“I remember AC Milan were leading Liverpool 3-0 at half-time in the Champions League final and then lost it.

“After the game, Carlo Ancelotti was asked what he thought about it and after a while he said, ‘I feel nothing'.

“So, of course I will be disappointed but it is all about the football and football is unpredictable.

“And before a game, it is better not to think about if you will be sacked if you lose or anything like that.

“The game will not be over if Dinamo score. There are 90 minutes in a game and we need to play all the match.”

To stress his point that the winning of the tie is not a foregone conclusion, Kobelev added: “All runs have to come to an end sometime.

“At Dinamo, we had not won in 20 years in the Luzhniki Stadium, where Spartak and CSKA play, but we did last year.

“So runs can come to an end but I just hope Celtic's run doesn't come to an end tomorrow night.”

Aside from an interesting analogy which perhaps revealed a sense of insecurity, Kobelev was cautious and diplomatic at Dinamo's pre-match press conference at the club's training base on the outskirts of Moscow.

Asked if Celtic's propensity to attack could work in his favour, Kobelev replied: “The first leg was a very difficult game and we have to take this game very seriously.

“It is hard to predict how it will go but we will try our best.

“Having the second leg at home isn't always an advantage.

“It is if you win the first game but it is about the aggregate result.”

Latest Sport News

Stats Centre