Grigoryan's zeal for Zvezda success

Aleksandr Grigoryan is due to leave Zvezda-2005 for men's football at the conclusion of their UEFA Women's Cup campaign – but does not intend to sign off with the semi-final against Umeå IK over the next two weekends. Zvezda, Russian champions in 2007 and 2008, have won all eight games on their European debut, with 1. FFC Frankfurt and Brøndby IF among their scalps, and meet another well-established club in two-time winners Umeå in the Perm side's first competitive matches of the year. Grigoryan spoke to uefa.com ahead of the first leg in Kazan on 29 March.

uefa.com: Zvezda take on Umeå with no competitive games under their belts this year. Do you think it's a big disadvantage?

Aleksandr Grigoryan: We lacked serious opponents during our training camp in Turkey. The only, more or less, serious opponents we had were the Russia Under-17 team, who we beat 3-0. There were even bigger victories in our other matches. We are trying to get in good shape by playing games against the youth team of men's side [FC] Amkar Perm.

uefa.com: Have you lost any key players before the Umeå semi-final?

Grigoryan: No, everybody is fit and ready to play.

uefa.com: Have you made any changes to the team over the winter break?

Grigoryan: We lost central defender and Ukrainian international Elena Hodyreva, but managed to sign two other girls. One of them also represents Ukraine, former [FC] VDV-Ryazan forward Darina Apanaschenko, and the other is a Russian international centre-back from [WFC] Rossiyanka, Ksenia Tsybutovich.

uefa.com: What do you think of Umeå?

Grigoryan: They are one of the favourites. Over the last five years Umeå have reached the final four times, winning twice. We have scouted them and knew they had a new coach and many new faces. However, they are as strong as ever.

uefa.com: Who do you think are favourites?

Grigoryan: Well, I suppose the Swedish team think they are, but we could say the same about ourselves. Anyway, it will be decided on the field – there are no clear favourites. We beat three-time European champions Frankfurt in qualifying, so any team that has reached the semi-finals can win the tournament.

uefa.com: What is the main target for Zvezda this season?

Grigoryan: Russian club owners do not demand European trophies as we don't have a big reputation in Europe. However, we are in the semi-finals and at that point every team is thinking about winning.

uefa.com: You play the first leg in Kazan as the Zvezda stadium did not qualify for a UEFA certificate. Do you worry that this will affect the support you get?

Grigoryan: I expect about 2,000 fans – in Perm there would have been five times more. Unfortunately, we do not have a choice. We can use our own ground from next season only.