Coach Leko: We are going to England with a positive spirit and great motivation

This will be a challenging test, but also a great litmus test for what awaits young Dinamo footballers next season in the B team. The junior team of the Blues will continue their competition in the prestigious Premier League International Cup this Saturday, under the guidance of coach Jerko Leko, where they will be welcomed by the young Chelsea team in London. This competition can be compared to the Champions League for younger age groups in terms of quality, strength of opponents, and football demands.

Dinamo is already participating in this tournament for the eighth consecutive time. It is organized by the English Premier League, and 32 teams are participating: 16 English teams and 16 continental teams invited by the organizer based on their criteria of the best European football academies.
The Blues are in group C, where there are eight teams, four English and four from the rest of Europe.
In this case, the guests only play against the home teams, meaning that the Blues will face four English opponents. In September, Dinamo started the competition by defeating the title defender, Nottingham Forest, with a goal from Tomas Baković, and this Saturday they will be playing away at Chelsea in London. They will also face Newcastle United and Brighton before the end of the competition. The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals.

– We are going to England with a positive spirit and a good result from the previous match in this tournament. The boys have returned after their duties in national teams, they had two, three days of rest, and now we are back in action. In London, we face a strong opponent which is an additional motivation for our players. We know what awaits us because we have already played in this tournament, the most important thing is for us to be at our best – emphasized coach Leko.

In what condition is Dinamo's team, in the junior championship they scored 18 goals in the last three matches?
– Yes, the confidence and attitude are at the right level, especially we showed that in the match in Osijek, it was a derby in which we were dominant. I hope for such an approach also in London regardless of the fact that we will face slightly older opponents. That's how it was, at least, in the previous performance where Nottingham played with a slightly older team. Chelsea will play with the U-21 age group, we expect a serious opponent which is, I say, an extra motivation for us. It is an opportunity for our players to see where they stand, and at the same time a chance to test themselves against different styles of football. Absolutely a nice challenge.

Will it be enough to "copy" the performance against Nottingham for a positive result?
– Chelsea will, as far as we know, enter this competition with great
ambitions. We are going to play our game, we have our system, and how much we will be able toimpose ourselves will depend on the mood, our attitude, confidence, and partly on theopponent. Anyway, the boys are ready and I believe in a positive result.

How much do you know about this young Chelsea team?
– This will be their first match in this year's tournament so we didn't have the opportunity to get to know them better. But that also gives us an extra thrill, the guys have to adapt on the spot, on the field itself, players have to react faster to some things because the opponent is unknown. But all English teams play a similar style of football. Against Nottingham, we set up well and looked good, there is no reason for it to be different now.

Until the end of the group competition, you will travel to England twice more, in December you will face Newcastle United, and in January Brighton.
– It will be a very good experience, especially because the opponents are a year or two older than us, and something like that will await us next year in the B team when our young footballers will play in senior football in the second league competition. Many of these players will probably play for Dinamo II next year, some may already enter the first team. The match against Nottingham showed that they are extremely motivated, I want them to be like that constantly. If someone can score three, four goals, then they won't stop at one or two, we want them to constantly improve, work on themselves and so far it's going well.