I’m upset with the result of course. We led for most of the match and conceded late on. Mostovoy had a good chance to increase our lead to and win it, but unfortunately, we didn’t win and naturally we are not happy.
Zenit had less possession and less shots on target, against a Lazio semi-reserve squad. Can you explain this?
With a semi-reserve team? Who were their reserves, tell me?
Immobile, Strakosha, Luis Alberto…
How many players were out for us? They have a bigger squad than us. I didn’t see a single player from their reserve team.
Did you give the initiative to Lazio in the second half? Why was this?
We controlled the ball in the first half and after we scored Lazio began to attack more and made it more difficult for us to get out of defence. This gave them a territorial advantage, but the game was going in both directions. At some times we were in charge, at other times it was Lazio. it's a pity that we couldn’t score the second and win. But this is what happened today.
What errors allowed Lazio to score?
The speed of our decision-making and movement had a lot to do with it. We should have stopped the ball coming in from wide. Secondly, our midfielders needed to have stopped the ball earlier and not have allowed Caicedo the chance.
Was the pitch too wet and slippery and was there a problem choosing the players’ studs?
The field was slippery and we saw during the warm-up and during the match, players from both teams were sliding. This is was the same for everyone. It is unlikely that Lovren would have managed to stop the pass for the goal as we expected a cross nearer to the goal. Some of our players were late in getting back into position too.
Should Wendel and Sutormin have come on earlier? Zenit seemed tired when the equaliser was scored.
I don't think we had many options to improve our attacking fortunes. Wendel is not a creative player, but rather a player who moves the ball from defence to attack. Daler Kuzyaev looked good and Sutormin replaced him when tired, but Daler stayed on as he had several good chances. In my opinion, the substitution was not needed.
The first round of the group stage is over. Next is Rome. Is the single point still positive for the team?
It's a shame we lost points at home against Club Brugge, as in my opinion, we deserved the win. Today was an equal game and we had better chances, but again, unfortunately, we did not win and are upset by this. We will now start to prepare for our upcoming RPL and Champions League matches and play to win. We'll see how many points we can win.
Should Mostovoy have passed to Kuzyaev when he had the chance, did his inexperience let him down?
The best option would have been a goal, if he’d seen Daler, then he would have passed it to him as he was in a more dangerous position. If you see a teammate in a better position, of course, you have to give it to him, this is a rule of football. In my opinion, he made the wrong decision, because he had to shot with the outside of his foot.
One point after three matches. How do you rate the chances of progressing? Do you have a chance?
There is a slim chance. We’ll have to pick up points from our opponents. Having had two home games and only scored one point makes it difficult, but we will do everything we can to score points.We'll see how many of them we can get.
What can you say about Barrios and Lovren’s yellow cards? Were they because of a lack of discipline?
Barrios was provoked and he reacted, which unbalanced him, he then made a mistake soon after and you can't do that. Lovren, was in a collision and he didn’t agree with the referee’s decision. He was fouled and received a blow to the face. Emotions like this aren’t anything to worry about. Footballers always want to win and this caused their reactions and the yellow cards.
Did Barrios' performance decline as the game went on? Is so, is this a physical problem or something else?
Barrios now he is not in the best condition. Although he played very well today, with the exception of two or three incidents and much better than he has been in previous games. I hope that he has overcome the slump in form and be back playing the way we are used to and being dependable out on the pitch.
