The head coach of Shakhtar, Ihor Jovichevich, commented on the outcome of the charity match with Roma, which ended with the victory of the Italian club with a score of 5:0.
Ihor Jovicevich and Jose Mourinho. Photo: shakhtar.com— A difficult match if we look at the result. This is a good test for us - we saw several situations that will work for us, moments that we need to work on. It is difficult, even unfair, to compare our squads with Roma's - both in terms of budgets and the level of players.
The first half was good for us for 30 minutes: we successfully came out from under the pressure of Roma, what we worked on in training was successful. It was difficult for the opponent to find between the lines of Zaniolo and Dybala, who was not visible at all in the first half hour. But the points and errors determined the course of the match. There is a difference between going into the break with 1-0 or 3-0. I think that this is where the game, the emotions of football players changed. And, of course, players of Roma's caliber, with such an atmosphere in the stadium, punish every mistake.
In the second half, also due to combinations, we had enough, but there was no concreteness in the last third of the field. In this case, as they say, everything is bought with money, which is why players are traded on the European market for 70, 100 million. So it's a good lesson for us to see where we are now, what we did successfully, what we didn't do at that level. Roma is a physically powerful team that beat us in duels. They are already starting the championship, and this is also a small nuance. We still have work to do. Therefore, we will prepare further.
I think this match will go to our advantage, despite the result. Such a result will not spoil our mood, although it does not look very good. But we have to understand with whom we played, where we played, in what atmosphere - and for many football players this is the first such experience. I'll say it again: especially the first half will be active, the second half will also be based on combinatorics, but the mistakes of our players under such pressure determined the outcome of the match, Jovicevich said.
