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The author did not intend to give the title a derogatory tone. The debut of the Ukrainian village in Europe has become something of a phenomenon. And not all of our clubs managed to start their history in European competitions so brilliantly. Having won away from the favorite of the match and, therefore, advance to the next round. Why not everyone present? No one.
Why did Greece’s fifth team rank above Ukraine’s sixth team? Ask the bookmakers. Yesterday everything turned upside down, and the 185th position of “Kolos” in the UEFA rankings is now higher than “Aris” by a third of this figure. I do not mean to judge the strength of the Greek championship, but it is still too early to proclaim ours.
The Greek “god of war” was embarrassed by the Ukrainian “grain producers”. I won’t say that Ares (aka Mars) was run over by a combine harvester, but he was carefully and efficiently pulled off the battlefield, caught in a beam. Sometimes a sickle is enough if you get to the right place.
My attitude towards the Kostyshin team has changed over the past year. From the obvious skepticism after the transition games without Chornomorets, to the surprise after reaching the top six, to outright curiosity: what will it look like in Europe? And here, I did not hesitate! But, up to a point, they will judge our UPL by him.
In my opinion, in terms of entertainment, the Thessaloniki match did not yield to the match “Dynamo” – AZ – the same average level. Perhaps there were even more dangerous moments in him.
Kolos opened the scoring almost immediately after the break. Eight minutes later, “Aris” won again, another seven minutes later, the guests restored the status quo. In this quarter of an hour the fate of the party was being decided. Throwing the half moments, we will find in “Aris” only one opportunity to escape defeat: the lack of Mancini at the end of the match. But before that, Antyukh was able to close the topic.
Kostyshin’s team, and in general, was a little closer to victory, did not look carefully out of the trenches, but stood up again and again with bayonets. In addition to the goals, I would take two more episodes seriously: the goalkeeper saves after goals from Smirny in the 33rd minute and Antyukha in the 83rd minute. “Aris” had a shot on the crossbar by Matilla in the 36th and the aforementioned occasion by Mancini at the end.
I prefer to attribute Zozuli’s missed shot in the middle of the first half to the half moments. However, I don’t stop you from evaluating it higher. In any case, “Aris” is lucky here, just like “Kolos” was lucky with the frame. You could both take a break with the leader. As for the half moments, then, taking them into account, the advantage of the guests was minimal.
That is to say, overall, and in all honesty, a tie was considered the natural outcome. The more pleasant and meaningful the result is.
Personally, I would highlight both scorers. Both Antyukh and Novak remained in the memory of the most prominent figures of the match, not counting the home team’s goalkeeper. Also, if the first was remembered in the attack, then the second – in various parts of the field.
Overall, the game made an unexpectedly favorable impression, which could not have been guessed from its first third or fourth. It’s gratifying that it was Kolos who set the tone. I will not say that Kostyshin’s team surprised, I will not call it surprise. But the fact that it completely naturally switched from local to European rails was impressive. Few of us got it.
It seems that an important role was played by the empty stands, in which the “Kolos” generally had to feel at home. The voices of a small support group rang out with almost the same success as last fall in Kiev.
The victory over the “Martians” allows us to look at the next duel with “Rijeka” with quite optimism. In any case, this opponent cannot be said to be of a different weight class. And here you can also draw parallels with “Dynamo” and “Gent”. What, unfortunately, can not be said about “Desna”, which will be examined by “Wolfsburg”. Here, at least not to fail …
Anyway, next week promises to be interesting. It seems to me that it is here, on the border between qualification and the main UEFA tournaments, that we will see how our championship has really changed in recent years. The current local hits of “Dynamo” and “Kolos” will be coincidental. Will we expect a pattern?
