Former striker of Shakhtar and the Ukrainian national team Andriy Vorobey assessed the chances of the Donetsk team in the match against RB Leipzig.
Andrey Sparrow- A big thank you to the players and the coaching staff of Shakhtar for adding, first of all, emotions (and no matter what positive or negative ones). Today, Shakhtar shows such a level of football and such a game that it is interesting to watch. And you really experience these emotions throughout the entire fight, which our people really need in this difficult time due to the war. People forget a little about what is happening in the country and abstract a little from this whole situation. Shakhtar are showing very good football today and many thanks to them for that.
In general, the Pitmen, let's say, have completed the minimum task in the game. If I had been told before the start of matches in European competitions that we would qualify for the Europa League this year at such a time with such a short preparation period, I would not have believed it. Many specialists and people thought that it would be very difficult for Shakhtar. The team has completely changed and therefore it seemed that even getting into the Europa League would be unrealistic. And Shakhtar showed with these games that, having completed the minimum task, there are chances even to reach the maximum and get into the Champions League.
— Do you think Shakhtar will be able to beat Leipzig again and reach the Champions League playoffs?
- Why not? Now the team is on such an emotional upsurge and shows a good game. Why not make a result? Of course, this will be very difficult to do. Because Leipzig in the first round and Leipzig in the final round are completely different teams.
Leipzig are showing very solid football now. He pulled himself up normally in the German championship too. And they won the Champions League three times. Therefore, it will be difficult for Shakhtar. Real Madrid matched Shakhtar in terms of style. With Celtic, the Pitmen defended somewhere, they were lucky somewhere, but they still played their own game. And with Leipzig it will be even harder, because the players there, it seems to me, are better matched than Celtic.
It is clear that this is not Real Madrid, but it will be very difficult to play and win with them. But, I repeat, the team has already completed the minimum task. Of course, we all hope for a miracle and that Shakhtar will win. But this will be very difficult to do.
— By the way, how would you rate Mudrik's performance in the match against Celtic? Misha was very cool!
— I don’t want to sing praises now. But in reality, now Mudrik is a car and a top football player! This is a car! Yes, he has flaws somewhere in his defensive game. But since he runs and plays attack at breakneck speed, he says that Mudrik is now a top football player! All Shakhtar attacks are built only through Mudrik. If the opponent completely blocks Mudrik, it will be very difficult for us to do something in the attack. Because we now have all hope for this player. He disperses all attacks. Now Mudrik and Mbappe are two of the brightest football players!
— Mudrik is proposed to PSG to replace Neymar. Do you think he could become the leader of the Parisians?
- It's too early to talk about it. But Mudrik is definitely now at the peak of his form, just in his prime. This is a young player who is growing. And it pleases that he is not arrogant. Everyone sees that he works in training, stays, improves. Everyone can see that he wants to reach very serious heights. To be honest, I like it. I think that Mudrik, if not in winter, then next summer will be in a top club.
— Do you remember the moment with Sikan's unscored goal? How do you comment? Why didn't he score? Lost or what?
- In my opinion, any striker and attacking player made such mistakes. Sikan is no exception. I think in this episode we all threw remotes at the TV. But this happens to every footballer. In my career, such episodes were more than once. It's just that Sikan has probably already seen him hugging his teammates while celebrating a goal. He probably already thought that he had scored a goal.
In my opinion, he probably wanted to handle, stop the ball and roll it foppishly into an empty net. And it was necessary to hit the gate on touch. Danilo stopped the ball, which treacherously slipped and ran away from him, so to speak. But, I repeat, this happens to every player. We all go through this, when the ball has nowhere to go, but it goes somewhere.
But in principle, this goal did not give anything. Anyway, even if Shakhtar won against Celtic, we would need to win against Leipzig. The only thing is that Shakhtar lost a certain amount of money, which is given for winning the Champions League. And also more points would go to the piggy bank of Ukraine for the UEFA rating. But for the standings in the Champions League group, it doesn't matter if Shakhtar won or drew. They would still have to win against Leipzig.
I just want to cheer up Sikan so that he is not mentally depressed. He needs to work, work and work. Because after this unscored goal, he just stopped and did not even run. This is the only thing that pissed me off somewhere. That is, he was so morally depressed by this situation and worried. Danilo, coming on as a substitute, had to run, as there should have been a lot of strength. This is the only moment. And so, in principle, you need to support the guy. Everything will be fine for him.
Dmitry Kotkov
