After finishing the Europa League group stage match against Ukraine, Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne attended a press conference to share his thoughts on the match and his team's performance.
De Bruyne began by recognizing the team's efforts, "We did our best in all three games and everyone wanted to win." He mentioned that despite the team's efforts on the pitch until the very end, they were not able to win as much as they would have liked in the end.
Regarding the course of the match, De Bruyne believes that the start of the first leg was very tough for his team. In particular, he noted that Ukraine was a difficult opponent and that they played dangerously. On the game strategy, De Bruyne explained the reasons for choosing to be conservative at key moments: "We tried to win the game and look for goal scoring opportunities in the last moments. But at corners, we chose not to take risks because we knew that if we conceded a goal, we could be eliminated from the Europa League."
Speaking about the team's tactics, De Bruyne mentioned that the high pressing tactics at the beginning were effective, but then the team encountered difficulties in passing in the midfield. He admitted that the 5-4-1 formation did not have the desired effect, making pressing difficult. However, after some adjustments in the second half, the situation improved.
In addition, De Bruyne made a special mention of Ukrainian player Zinchenko, whom he praised as an amazing player and a close friend. Despite being rivals on the pitch, De Bruyne has a lot of respect for Zinchenko and wishes him all the best in his future career.
In the end, De Bruyne said that while Belgium wanted to win the tournament, he also recognized that Ukraine is a team full of talent and will surely rise to prominence again in the future. He expressed his best wishes to the Ukrainian team and expects them to do better in the coming matches.
