Veres Rivne head coach Yuriy Virt shared his impressions of yesterday's match of the 2nd round of the Champions League group stage between Donetsk Shakhtar and Scottish Celtic (1:1).
Yuri WirthCeltic were aggressive
- This is exactly the result I predicted, Wirth noted. — I expected that the match with Celtic would end in a scoring draw. I think that this is a very good achievement for Shakhtar, because the game was very difficult, especially in the first half and in general. The Pitmen got one credit rather than lost two.
— Why did Shakhtar start this meeting so hard?
- He got involved in the Celtic game very actively and aggressively. The Pitmen, in turn, defended too low, pressed too close to their goal. That's why they got a quite logical goal into their own net, and they could have conceded - Celtic had several great chances to score.
- Did the team of Jovicevich strive not to concede in the first place?
- No, Shakhtar, I think, planned to act on counterattacks. But at first, nothing worked... The Pitmen became more active only after a goal was conceded. In the middle of the first half, we managed to level the game and organize a classic counterattack.
"Mudrik learned"
- Why, besides this goal, Mudrik did not succeed?
- It was noticeable that Celtic studied Mudrik's style of play and clearly understood that if Mikhail was given space, there would be significant problems. After one mistake in guardianship of Mudrik, in the future, the Scots followed him very closely, blocked his zone, and did not allow him to create something significant.
— Did you like Celtic?
- In general, yes. This is a great team that created a lot of problems for Shakhtar. I can’t say that Celtic is some kind of super team, but they are a serious contender.
"Trubin is not to blame"
— Shakhtar players made many unforced mistakes, including Trubin. Can everything be attributed to youth and lack of experience?
“These guys are both young and experienced at the same time. Of course, I want them not to give their opponents chances to score, but to act more confidently in simple episodes... As for Trubin, he made enough mistakes and helped the team out. It's good that Celtic didn't take advantage of Trubin's mistakes, especially at the end of the match. The goalkeeper of Shakhtar is not to blame for the missed goal - there was the fate of luck for the Celtic player, whose path to the goal was blocked by both Bondarenko and Trubin.
- Were Shakhtar's substitutions successful?
- They were more successful at Celtic. After the break, especially after substitutions, the Scots noticeably increased in pace and creativity. Shakhtar, unfortunately, lost in the attack - the pressure on the Scottish defense was minimal. Traore, Petryak and Jurasek could not fully enter the game.
Shakhtar is in the fight
- Is there anyone from the Shakhtar squad that can be specially noted?
- It's hard to do that... Except perhaps Mudrik, who had one chance to score and took advantage of it. This is a sign of class. Moreover, Mikhail converted a scoring chance at the highest level. As for the team as a whole, it defended a lot, worked a lot.
— Evaluate the Pitmen's tournament achievement after two rounds of the Champions League.
- If before the start of the group stage someone would say that Shakhtar would have four points after two rounds, they would consider him a dreamer and applaud his forecasts. Of course, this is a very good start. So far, Shakhtar are among the contenders for the playoffs, although the main struggle in the group is still ahead. And yet, the Pitmen deserved exactly as much as they have - exactly four points, no less, but no more.
Oleg Semenchenko
