Oleksandr Chyzhevskyi, a well-known Ukrainian football player of the past, shared with Team 1 impressions of the Champions League group stage match between Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig.
— It was a completely different Leipzig than in the first match between these rivals in Germany. Under the new helmsman, Marco Rose, the "Bulls" have recently noticeably improved, first of all, in the organization of the game. It seemed that each performer clearly knew his maneuver and therefore they easily outclassed the nominal hosts. In general, Marco Rose is not a fart specialist for Shakhtar, because, it is recalled, in the 2020/2021 season, the Donetsk team lost twice to Borussia Mönchengladbach, which was led by this coach with a total score of 0:10(!). And here is another debacle...
The guests were much stronger in all components and, most importantly, they neutralized the key player of the "Miners" - Mykhailo Mudryk, allowing him to accelerate only when the fate of the confrontation was already decided.
— Yesterday, Shakhtar had to win to make it to the playoffs. Therefore, it was necessary to act with an open visor, to take risks, and this is not characteristic of the current Donetsk team...
— Compared to the previous matches, Shakhtar did not make any tactical adjustments, once again adopting the 4-2-3-1 scheme, which helped to score points. Perhaps, if the helmsman Ihor Jovichevich had managed to use Oleksandr Zubkov and Maryan Shved, then the "miners" would have been more aggressive and persistent in their search for short paths to the opponent's goal. But they were absent yesterday and Leipzig made sure that Shakhtar were helpless on the pitch and avenged their first-round defeat in convincing style. Especially since the Donetsk people were not sinless near their possessions. Let's remember at least how the German club scored its goals without much resistance...
— In the end, the miracle did not happen. As expected, Real Madrid and Leipzig made it to the next round, while Shakhtar, despite an impressive start, finished third and will now continue in the Europa League next spring...
— Indeed, yesterday's defeat by "Leipzig" is a strong blow to the image of "Shakhtar". However, in general, the renewed Donetsk team deserves praise for its performance. I hope that having gained experience, Shakhtar will not disappoint in the Europa League.
— Now about today's matches on the international arena of two more representatives of Ukraine — "Dynamo" and "Dnipra-1". How do you feel about the statements of the "Dynamo" management that Kyiv will try to loudly slam the door in the confrontation with the Turkish Fenerbahce?
- You know, for me the performance of "Dynamo" this season is a complete disappointment. After all, I thought that Kyiv would dominate in the UPL, at least they would win the right to compete in the Europa League next spring. However, it did not happen as expected. And even if the wards of Mircea Lucescu give a fight to the Istanbul giant, it will be a weak consolation for such a famous and ambitious club as Dynamo.
As for "Dnipro-1", although it did not impress with its spectacle, thanks to the cohesion and the desire of the players to demonstrate their best qualities, they made it to the playoff round of the Conference League. And what the Dnipro people are really worth will be shown by their today's confrontation with AZ, a representative of one of the leading football countries, the Netherlands. And although AZ is considered the favorite, I think that Oleksandr Kucher's wards have a good chance of achieving a positive result.
Vasyl MYKHAILOV