The head coach of Shakhtar Donetsk Igor Jovicevich commented on the defeat of his team by Real Madrid (1:2) in yesterday's away match of the 3rd round of the Champions League group stage, which took place in the capital of Spain.
Igor Jovichevich“There was a bit of everything in this match. We lacked experience, especially in the beginning. We gave a lot of free space to Real Madrid, which works very well at the end of the attack. We lack the experience of just such matches.
Plus, of course, we played against the best team in the world, and this cannot be hidden. But the more we play such matches, the better we will play as a team. In some aspects and segments, we were not only on a par with Real Madrid, but sometimes even surpassed the opponent. Our players in some moments played in such a way that the best players of Real Madrid could not neutralize them. This allows me to experience pride and positive emotions that will stay with me.
I think Real Madrid deservedly won - they forgave us in some moments. Mudrik had opportunities, and in the end we could end the match in a draw. But the adrenaline that is felt at such moments did not allow us to get the desired result. However, we admit that we played against the best team in the world, and we understand that what we lacked today may be enough against other teams.
Now we will analyze what happened today from the point of view of the emotional part, so as not to make simple mistakes that were not necessary. Many Ukrainians will come to the match against Real Madrid in Warsaw - they will support us. It seems to me that the next game against Real Madrid will be a little easier thanks to the support of the stands. But, of course, it won't be easy. It is not easy to prepare for such a game, especially in conditions when you are forced to constantly travel. In addition, it is necessary to meet the expectations, because everyone expects victory from us.
What can we promise? That we will always fight. We will be focused, we will be motivated. And, I think, when the warm-up is over, we will demonstrate our best match. We can play well and we can surprise like we surprised Leipzig. Yes, of course, Real Madrid deservedly won today, but there were also positive moments in our game, which we will try to improve.
Our guys can leave the temple of football with their heads held high. We made proud all the fans of Ukraine who saw how we fought, how we tried to realize our ambitions.
And we are also grateful to our compatriots - we take an example from them: as they fight for freedom, so we fight on the field. And we have a civic responsibility to demonstrate the same struggle and never give up. We just have to continue our efforts,” Jovićević said at the post-match press conference.
