Shakhtar won the opening match of the Champions League, defeating German RB Leipzig 4-1 away. Jozsef Sabo, ex-coach of Dynamo, shared his impressions of the game.
Jozsef Szabo"I didn't expect this"
- To be honest, I did not expect such a game, I did not think that RB Leipzig would play so poorly, - said Szabo. - I specially watched several matches of this German team in the Bundesliga, I saw how badly they started the championship. But as for the duel with Shakhtar, RB Leipzig has not yet tuned in properly.
— On the other hand, Shakhtar seems to have been fully mobilized...
— Shakhtar impressed with excellent game discipline. Yes, in the first half we did not see any beauty in the Pitmen's game, of course, there was none of that. Jovicevich's team endured and fought back. As for the starting lineup, I did not expect that Shved and Zubkov would come out from the first minutes. They just recently came and immediately went into battle - it surprised me.
After the break, with the score 1:0 in their favor, Shakhtar tore the opponent apart on counterattacks. I don't know what RB Leipzig were doing before the match... It seems that they either didn't watch the Pitmen's footage at all, or did it very distractedly. I was also pleasantly surprised that with the score at 1:1, Shakhtar did not go on the defensive, but began to actively look for a chance ahead. What can I say, my congratulations to Shakhtar!
— One gets the impression that Jovićević requires his players, regardless of the tournament or opponent, to play reliably in defense and wait for opponents to make mistakes. And the opponents make mistakes, and Shakhtar skillfully use it...
- Exactly. I have always criticized teams that do not just sit on the defensive, but almost do not even go beyond their own penalty area, but this Shakhtar calmly destroys other people's attacks and waits not only for mistakes, but also for the fatigue of opponents.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in 60 years...”
- Did the RB Leipzig goalkeeper's mistake in the 16th minute change the course of the game?
- Undoubtedly. I have been in football for more than 60 years and have never seen anything like this. How can an experienced goalkeeper go almost to the center of the field and start feinting? It was a disaster for RB Leipzig. I paid attention to the faces of the players of the German team after this conceded goal - they stood and did not know what to say to their goalkeeper... After such a mistake, the hosts could no longer tune in to the next game.
- Throwing compliments at Shakhtar, we forget about the Pitmen's rather gross mistake in defense when the opponent equalized the score. Who is to blame for this?
- Shakhtar's defenders lost several duels in a row and rushed to the center of the penalty area to correct the situation, but they forgot about Simakan. He was alone in a convenient position and killed. I want to note that the shot was in the near corner - Trubin had to parry it, but lost the goal.
"Swede's numbers are impressive"
- Shakhtar again took the lead in a minute and there was some luck in that episode...
- Alex Ferguson, after the well-known denouement in the Champions League final with Bayern, when in two minutes the score changed from 0:1 to 2:1 in favor of Manchester United, said: it’s not enough to be a great coach, you also need to have a lot of luck . But Shakhtar deserved this luck. RB Leipzig actually did nothing at Trubin's goal - there was only one dangerous episode before the goal. Tedesco's team was disgusting to look at!
- Which of the Shakhtar squad can be especially noted in this game?
- The whole team. And it doesn't sound pompous at all - it's true. True, if you look at the match numbers, the Swede who scored twice stands out. In addition to the goals in his performance, I want to note the work of Maryan in general - he fought well, beat, defended a lot and with high quality. By the way, Mudrik also did a good job in defense. As for Mudrik's goal, this cannot be avoided if you give him space. I think the RB Leipzig players have already learned this well.
Celtic will be careful
— What awaits Shakhtar in the match against Celtic? Can the Pitmen already calculate the options for reaching the playoffs of the Champions League?
- It's too early to make plans for the playoffs. In addition, I am sure that the Scots will not play like RB Leipzig. Celtic will make Shakhtar fight harder, will throw long balls behind the backs of the defenders and, I think, will study the Pitmen's football very well. Now all Shakhtar's opponents will be very careful, remembering the ability of the Ukrainian team to counterattack. We'll see. But Shakhtar have already done a great job by earning such important European Cup points for Ukraine.
Oleg SEMENCHENKO
