Mircea Lucescu: We deserved to win

- It was a match that wasn’t important in terms of the standings, let’s put it so. It was more for the image and the audience to have been present at the stadium today. It was a good game! Karpaty appeared as a very good and organized team. They are well prepared physically. They delivered a great many dangerous high balls. We bossed it nearly throughout the match, but did not create enough chances ball control wise. I think we’ve deserved to win. Now we are going to prepare for the cup meeting with Oleksandriya, who are waiting for us here this coming Wednesday. Once again I want to congratulate Karpaty on today's performance. I really liked the team. They operated well.

- Today, Malyshev had the captain role for the first time ever. What is the reason behind selecting Maksym and has he coped with it?
- He was the captain because I decided so. I wanted to support him after the error leading to their scoring a goal against us in Seville. He was very upset, and now, probably, too. He knows that his error affected the outcome. He needed my support, and I tried to provide it. But this does not mean that one day in the future he can’t become a true captain. When Darijo does not play, Malyshev and Stepanenko can replace him. They are promising players who are very fond of their team. No wonder they put on the captain's armband. Plus they are very competent footballers who play in midfield. This role is very important in terms of teamwork.