Dinamo Moscow coach Stanislav Cherchesov has defended his decision not to make substitutions earlier against Napoli as his side exited the Europa League at the Round of 16 stage.
The Russian Premier League side made their only change on 85 minutes as they failed to break the Partenopei down, in a 0-0 draw at the Arena Khimki and were eliminated 3-1 on aggregate.
“We are disappointed, but the matches in this competition have been a learning experience,” the 51-year-old tactician said in his post-match press conference.
“We faced a team of the highest level.
“My colleague [Rafael Benitez] has many valuable players to choose from having a superior bench to ours and that speaks volumes.
“Artur Yusupov? He is fine, he was left out for tactical reasons,” he continued.
“Do not forget that we have a match every three days.”
Dinamo were the only team to come through the Europa League group stage with maximum points after starting in the third qualifying round of this competition, but have yet to win a home game against Italian opponents in three attempts.
