It was a difficult match, but we didn’t expect anything else. This was our first game after a long break. In the first half we failed to turn up and we must pay tribute to our opponent, who began the game aggressively with the excellent support from their fans. Unfortunately, we made mistakes that led to chances and one of them was scored. Our chance with the penalty and others weren't taken. The team who scored, won. But we know that this is a two-legged game and nothing is lost; everything will be decided back in St. Petersburg. 

Why did Robert Mak take the penalty? After the game with Bordeaux, you said that Dzyuba was your regular penalty, but today he didn’t take it. And the second question - what is up with Alexander Yerokhin, why didn't we see him today?

I think you do not follow us regularly, Yerokhin has been out for a long time, he has a serious injury, so we won't see him in the near future. As for the penalty, then yes, we have Dzyuba, who is our regular penalty taker, but there are others who are ready to take them for many reasons. One of these is Robert. He took responsibility, but, unfortunately, did not score. 

Many fans in St. Petersburg expected Leon Musayev to play today, but he was not even in the squad. Is he not ready for such matches?

I think it's too early. In the last match against Sarpsborg, he started, but this was a match with a lot of pressure and it was difficult for him. So, today, considering where we were playing, neither he nor Vorobyev were put in the squad. But in general, both have left a good impression on us. In the Europa League, the matchday squad is limited and it is an away match, so we decided not to use them. In the Europa League, they can play and I hope that there will be more chances. 

Did the lack of official matches over the past few months affect the way you played today?

Of course. Two months ago we last had a game, after a month on holiday, then training, everything is definitely affected. It is always difficult to start the season and almost all clubs in Europe get better step-by-step. 

Why did you replace Driussi and not Dzyuba? It seemed that Artem was not having a good game.

The substitution was forced on us, Sebastian requested it himself, he felt a problem, so we replaced him at his own request.