Marcel Licka: Today we played for the honor of Lev Yashin and achieved a very important win

— The most important thing is our victory. We played well for 80 minutes, combined great through a pass and finally scored in one of our chances, which makes me feel very happy. Unfortunately, the last 10 minutes were bad for us. The opponent used a lot of long balls on tall players. Our midfielders and forwards had to press Ural players more actively and not let them make such passes. Probably, they already felt that the end of the game was close and the psychological struggle began. Of course, it would be better to keep the clean sheet. In general, the defensive line worked well. In addition, Igor saved the team a lot.

— What is the situation with the injured footballers in the team?

— Ngamaleu and Fomin work on an individual program. I didn't want to risk their health. If everything goes well, Moumi will be available on Thursday. Fomin's situation is more complicated – he still feels pain in his ankle. We will not rush with him, he should be with the team for the match against Sochi. Slava Grulev got a painful blow to the leg, which led to a fracture. He probably will miss the remainder of the calendar year.

— Today the team played in a special black kit in honor of Lev Yashin's birthday. Did this fact help you emotionally?

— I am sure that Lev Yashin always watches our matches from the sky and helps us. We talked about it, and everyone remembers how six months ago we lost to Fakel in the anniversary game here and what the atmosphere was like afterwards. Today we played for the honor of Lev Yashin, and after the match the atmosphere was pleasant for everyone.

— The team has a tradition of handing the cap to the best player of the match. Who would you give it to today?

— This choice is always made by the player who received it last time. Honestly speaking, I didn't see who it was handed to. I am very glad that Tyuka and Bitello scored today, Smolov played well. But I would bet on Diego for his work for the team.

— When will Stanislav Bessmertnyi appear on the pitch?

— He will play in the Cup match on Thursday. Moreover, Ivan Lepsky, Sergey Parshivlyuk and Anton Shunin will also come to the pitch. I also wanted to put Ivan Zazvonkin in the squad but he has been training on an individual program for the last few days. I like this Cup format, which allows us to give playing time to all football players.

— During the last press conference, we talked for a long time about the need to make changes to the squad and today you did it. Do you listen to journalists' opinion?

— I always listen to people around me and analyze their words. I always have my own opinion but I also need to take into consideration the thoughts of the whole coaching staff. I thought Ural would play more in defense, and we needed a forward who knows how to fight. Therefore, immediately after the game against Lokomotiv, I decided to return Tyukavin to the starting line-up and Smolov took the playmaking role.

— Ural strengthened their play by substitutions. Why didn't you take measures to move the game away from Dynamo's goal?

— I fielded Luka who was supposed to help Diego and Luis in the midfield. Our players met the opponent passively and allowed them to make long passes. That was the main problem. Therefore, I fielded Nicholas Marichal who helped in aerial duels. Diego, Luis and Luka sat deep a lot, while Tyuka and Jorge could not cover the entire width of the pitch. When we possessed the ball, there were situations when it was possible to play forward, and we gave back to Leshchuk. Passive play in the last 10 minutes is more of a psychological matter.

— Tell about Igor Leshchuk's performance today.

— Igor plays very well with his feet. His big quality is that he never panics. He kept three clean sheets and was just a little short of the fourth one, but he conceded a nice goal. Igor really saved the team twice. I am very glad to have such good goalkeepers as Shunin and Leshchuk. Anton also defended the goal very well before his shoulder injury.