I must first congratulate the players, we earned a point, we knew it wouldn't be easy, highlighted Dinamo's coach Mario Kovačević after the draw against Israeli Hapoel in Bucharest at the start of the Europa League.

– We wanted to play solidly, be compact... We knew that Hapoel is a good team, that they like to dominate, but we also knew they have problems when they set their back line high, so we wanted to exploit that with three fast players in the first half. But given the state we're in, we lacked concentration going forward to reward ourselves. We worked well in the defensive phase, we had good situations, but we couldn't score. We wanted the victory, but this point is realistic. After the 75th minute, we couldn't even break out on counter-attacks. We must be satisfied with this point.

Lukas Kačavenda started in the first eleven, but had to leave the pitch in the 23rd minute due to injury.

– There were problems, Dion Drena Beljo was absent, Stjepan Radeljić also dropped out... Look, Kačavenda started the match very well and then we had to substitute him. Given the state we're in, I must congratulate the boys first and foremost on their fighting spirit, we gave everything we had and that must always be the case. I'm saying, we wanted to win, but a point away from home is always welcome. Psychologically, the way we earned that point will mean a lot to us. The desire is to always be solid and compact at the back, and I'm confident we have the quality going forward and that we'll know how to use it.

On Sunday there's a league match against Lokomotiva scheduled, followed by a two-week break due to international duty.

– We'll freshen up for that match, we have four days. Matches against Lokomotiva are always interesting encounters, we know it won't be easy. I hope that both Radeljić and Beljo will recover so we can expand our options. We'll see who will be able to compete, we must be at our 100 percent against solid Lokomotiva to go into the break with a victory. I believe that after the league break we'll be much better and of higher quality – concluded coach Kovačević.