Last Wednesday, Shakhtar Donetsk played a draw with Scottish Celtic (1:1) in the match of the 2nd round of the Champions League group stage. Your attention to the post-match comments of the head coaches of the teams that met.
Igor Jovicevich, Shakhtar head coach: “It was a tough match. I assure you that it would be difficult for every team with such a Celtic. This is the best Celtic in the last 20 years - with a good coach and very dynamic players who are very quick to recover the ball after a loss, very aggressive in pressing, do not let "breathe" at all. If you saw, then in the first match, Celtic had to score 4 goals against Real Madrid. We lost 0:3, but until the 60th minute, Celtic outperformed Madrid both in moments and in the game.
So we are not talking about an accident here, we prepared very seriously. Celtic has more experience, this team has an international squad with a high cost of players, our opponent was the favorite in this match. We knew that the beginning of the meeting would be aggressive, and it was very important for us to withstand this moment. But Celtic scored. Our rivals felt the support of their fans, who pushed them forward all the time and gave them energy.
But there is one thing that is very important for us, for our team, which is young, talented, disciplined and with character, and that is when you miss, you get back in the game, you get back in the match. And we should feel proud, it is important for young guys that you took the ball to your feet again, controlled the ball and returned to the game. And, having scored a goal, it was possible to score more: there was a centimeter offside, but the feeling was that we were playing at least at the same level, because we had the ball, we can think.
And Celtic's pressure was no longer so successful, because we felt confident. In the second half, of course, the opponents imposed their game, there were several forced substitutions, but each player who played for Celtic was even more expensive in cost. So it's a very good experience for us. I think that we did not allow the opponent to create many chances. This point can be said to be a very good result. Not only because they took a point, but also took 2 points from Celtic. This can be important because you never know what will happen next.
We should be proud that the team showed character, fought to the end and made the impossible possible. What everyone thought was impossible against Leipzig, we made possible. This is the most difficult thing - when you endure, you should only think about the impossible. And if you can't win, then don't lose. And for this energy, this character, God helps in the end.”
Angelos Postecoglu, Celtic head coach: “The first 55-60 minutes of the game were important. Do not forget that we did not play at home, but in away matches there is always a tense situation. Here we played, thinking about resilience, points and the maximum number of goals.
Fights at the highest level are always tough, but it's worth accepting what we got. Yes, we scored a goal and took one point. If we continue to play like this in the future, then I expect good results. If we talk about the game, it was good.
If we talk about the result, then we could count on more, if we scored one more goal. You can’t change anything, but in general the game turned out to be good.
The most important thing is to play the game. This match was held at the highest level. Like any other in the Champions League, it was accompanied by a lot of pressure. We played here to take points, and what we managed to earn was very difficult. It was necessary to work hard and prove yourself as much as possible in order to achieve such a result. We got a point - it encourages and is good for the team."