Vladyslav Lupashko After Stal Rzeszów vs Lechia Gdańsk

Following Lechia Gdańsk’s victory over Stal Rzeszów, head coach Vladyslav Lupashko reflected on the White-and-Greens’ performance, assessed the team’s display in both halves and looked ahead to the upcoming Tricity Derby.

The coach’s assessment of the match;

We prepared very well for this game. We respect our opponents and were fully aware of their strengths. Stal are one of the best teams in the league when it comes to putting pressure on the player in possession. However, we knew where the weaknesses in their system were. We identified spaces we could exploit, and that was a key focus of our preparations.

On the team’s second-half performance:

I’m not happy with the second half, and I made that clear to the players. We had a long break from competitive matches, which was practically like a summer training camp. We performed very well in training, so I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to fully translate that into today’s match.

On the yellow cards shown to Kopásek and Malov:

In my opinion, a lot depends on the referee’s approach and interpretation of individual situations. Not every decision went our way, and we didn’t feel that all of them were entirely fair. In the case of those yellow cards, it ultimately came down to how the referee interpreted the incidents.

On whether any player deserves special recognition:

I don’t like singling out individual players. Instead, I’d like to highlight how effectively Stal can neutralise their opponents’ strengths. Before the match, we showed our players the areas of the pitch where we could be most effective. In the first half, we managed to get into those areas and create opportunities, but our decision-making on the ball left a lot to be desired. We were able to retain possession in those positions, but we didn’t always make the right choices.

On preparations for the Tricity Derby:

Our opponents played at home and have two extra days to prepare for the next match. We had to travel both ways, which makes a significant difference when the turnaround between games is so short.