Veres Rivne head coach Yuriy Virt shared his impressions of yesterday's match of the final, 6th round of the Champions League group stage between Shakhtar Donetsk and German RB Leipzig (0:4)
Yuri Wirth"The Miracle Didn't Happen"
- Before the match, I said that Shakhtar's advance to the Champions League playoffs would be a miracle, but, unfortunately, a miracle did not happen, Wirth noted. — It happens in football - when everything goes well for one team and everything flies into the opponent's goal, and for the other everything falls out of hand ...
RB Leipzig demonstrated high-quality and aggressive football in this meeting and deservedly won. I will not hide, I expected more from Shakhtar. But individual mistakes prevented the Pitmen from getting a good result. Jovićević's wards allowed the opponent to create chances and score too easy goals...
- Shakhtar's head coach did not make a mistake with the starting line-up, in particular, with the release of the slow Traore and Konopli, who, it seems, has not yet gained the necessary condition?
- The choice in attack Jovićević had to make between Traore and Sikan. But, it is obvious that Traore is a more experienced striker than Sikan, who is losing to him in competition. I think that in winter Shakhtar will look for another striker. The same goes for Hemp. There is also Taylor for this position, but he makes a lot of mistakes. Considering that Zubkov and Shved are injured, the squad for the match against RB Leipzig was predicted.
Shakhtar didn't change anything in the second half"
- You pointed out the Pitmen's individual mistakes - does this apply to all goals against Shakhtar?
- RB Leipzig applied very effective pressure. First, the German team made Sudakov make a mistake and scored the first goal. This mistake became decisive in the game, because missing at the very beginning, when you are not satisfied with a draw, is a tangible blow.
As for other goals, Konoplya, who lost the fight very easily, and then Taylor and Petryak were mistaken, whom the rivals easily bypassed and scored the third and fourth goals against Trubin.
— After the first half, Shakhtar lost 0:1. What could tell wards Jovicevich to turn the game?
- Shakhtar didn't change anything in the second half. The Pitmen also tried to control the ball, as in the first half, as in the matches against Real Madrid and Celtic. This happened with other teams, so Jovićević probably did not change anything.
But it was necessary to take into account that RB Leipzig, under the leadership of Marco Rose, prepared very carefully for such a Shakhtar. Roze is generally a very uncomfortable coach for the Pitmen. Remember how his other team, Borussia Mönchengladbach, defeated Shakhtar twice? Then 10 goals in two matches flew into the Pitmen's goal, now there are four.
"Trubin? Pay attention to RB Leipzig!”
- Can Trubin be blamed for the goals conceded?
- It's hard to say... Yes, four goals is a lot, but in general, Trubin played at a good level. Unless in the second goal Trubin could help out, but the ball flew out from under Hemp there, so it was not easy to react.
I would like to pay more attention to the fact that the Pitmen did not strike a single shot into the RB Leipzig frame and the opponent's goalkeeper did not have to make a single save... This testifies to the remarkable work of RB Leipzig in defense - they were able to exclude Mudrik from the game.
- Which player did you like the most? Who can be noted in the Shakhtar squad?
- First of all, I want to mention the German team - in general. I really liked RB Leipzig in the match against Shakhtar. As for the Pitmen, we are already used to it - they create chances, demonstrate creative football... Unfortunately, nothing was created this time and, besides that, they conceded four more goals. Therefore, there is no one to celebrate.
“This Shakhtar must be preserved”
- What can be expected from Shakhtar in the spring - in the Europa League?
- This Shakhtar has very good prospects. If the team in the Europa League continues in the same vein, then they will be able to go through more than one round. Of course, a lot also depends on the draw... But if the Pitmen played on equal terms with Real Madrid in the Champions League, then all other rivals should not frighten the team.
Of course, after the devastating defeat of Shakhtar by RB Leipzig, many critics will appear, but I believe that nothing terrible has happened. This Shakhtar has a good future. We need to recover and keep during the winter transfer window Mudrik, Matvienko and Trubin, who will be in special demand. But I think they should only be released to Premier League clubs. I know that all of Europe is now talking about the young talents of Shakhtar, and the main thing is to keep the team in the playoffs of the Europa League.
Oleg Semenchenko
