Coach Kovačević: Congratulations to Celta, they deserved to win, punished every mistake of ours

Congratulations to Celta, they deserved to win, we knew we were facing a tough match, that's Europe and every mistake is punished, as shown in this match, emphasized Dinamo's coach Mario Kovačević after the defeat against the Spanish Celta, who celebrated a 3-0 victory at Maksimir in the 4th round of the Europa League.

- The first dangerous situation in front of our goal was immediately followed by a goal, it happened after our mistake. We tried to come back, we had situations when they were leading 1:0, created several actions, but unfortunately we didn't capitalize on them. We then conceded a second goal, we had to react better in that situation. And after that we tried, Arbër Hoxha was breaking through the side well, we had several situations, hit the post. If we had scored then, we would have reduced it to 2:1, but again we made a mistake in opening. In the first half, we did everything we shouldn't have. We tried to stabilize in the continuation, Celta stood in a solid block... I think we deserved to score at least that one goal.

The statistics show that Dinamo committed only six fouls in this match. Is it a lack of desire or were Celta players just faster?

– The statistics also show that we were better in the second half in terms of possession, shots on goal, and corners. Of course, we need to be more aggressive. Celta players are fast, it's difficult to commit fouls. We knew they are strongest in wide spaces, they use possession, open up very quickly... We knew all of this in preparation, but it's difficult when they are so fast.

When asked to comment on the performance of goalkeeper Ivan Nevistić, he briefly added:

– I wouldn't comment on individual players, Nevistić performed well in the last match against Rijeka. It was difficult for him to do anything about the goals, he didn't have much to do in the second half.

What did you say to the players at halftime?

- It was difficult to say anything smart, you see that we are good in some parts, we changed and agreed to go for a goal in the first 15 minutes so that maybe we could complicate the game with a 3:1 score. But Celta firmly stood in a block and lurked for a counterattack.

Dinamo will visit Istra 1961 in a league match on Sunday. How to psychologically and physically recover for that match?

- There is no other option but to rise. I told the players "keep your heads up, this is the ideal match to learn something from it". We are aware that we can no longer afford to make mistakes in the HNL. It is never easy against Istra, but they are not in ideal condition either, they were eliminated from the Cup... We must give our all in Pula

Have the negative criticisms and articles about Josip Mišić and the disrupted atmosphere affected the performance on Thursday?

- All of that negativity affects us, but Mišić is an experienced player. The fans were with us from the first minute. I repeat, a team like Celta will punish your mistakes.

The players have stated that they support you, do you feel that?

- This is a good group, there are a lot of new players, I don't know if there has ever been so many changes. I would like us to be even better, we are still searching. I have nothing to blame the players for. I can tell them to be persistent and I am sure they will be what Dinamo needs.

After two wins in the Europa League, Dinamo played a draw, and now suffered their first defeat. Next is an away game in Lille, followed by Betis at home, while in the final two rounds in January, the Blues will face a match against the Romanian FCSB, formerly known as Steaua, in Zagreb and an away game against Danish Midtjylland. How does the situation in the Europa League look to coach Kovačević now?

- We are still here, "we are alive", it won't be easy, all of these are top teams we will be playing against. I believe in my team, and I think that the experience from previous matches will help us to be better. We must not make mistakes like tonight and we can hope for a good outcome - concluded coach Kovačević.