Former manager of Ternopil's Niva, Prykarpattia and Lviv Ihor Yavorsky in a commentary "Team 1 " shared his thoughts on the results of the 16th round of the Ukrainian championship.
- "I can feel that the Pitmen are improving with every game," said Yavorsky. "Head coach Igor Jovicevic has managed to stabilize the squad, and each player knows exactly what to do on the field. In particular, I liked how skillfully the Donetsk team ran into the attack.
- Perhaps, such a total advantage of the Pitmen in the matches with the Transcarpathians and Slobozhans can be explained by the fact that, unlike their rivals, they accelerated their preparation, because in February they were waiting for the battles with the French "Rennes" in the Europa League, now it's Feyenoord's turn
- I do not rule it out. This is the prerogative of Shakhtar's coaching staff, who, I am sure, have taken everything into account. In addition, they have a fairly long bench, there are plenty of players to choose from, and I think they will have enough strength to keep up the pace. So far, the Donetsk team really stands out from the rest of the Ukrainian teams in terms of their level of training.
- And who among them will be able to compete with the Miners?
- As for me, only Dnipro-1 and Zorya. It's a shame for Dynamo Kyiv, who, after the losses of Ilya Zabarnyi, Viktor Tsygankov and the absence of Mykola Shaparenko, make a depressing impression. It seems that Dynamo will have plenty of such shameful defeats, like the one in the last round against outsider Ingulets.
- Then finally, how would you assess Shakhtar's chances in the first leg against Feyenoord?
- You know, it's not the worst draw, there have been more dangerous rivals. Although I had a chance to see videos of several matches with Feyenoord and liked them. A very tenacious team that plays pragmatic football. They know how to endure when it's difficult, don't panic and somewhere in this they resemble the Pitmen in some matches on the international stage. I remember that Feyenoord acts aggressively on the flanks, often changing directions of attack, so Donetsk should pay attention to this. Nevertheless, Shakhtar's players are on a roll now, confident in their abilities and, at least in the match in Warsaw, I estimate their chances of winning to be higher.
Vasyl Mikhailov