The head coach of Dutch Feyenoord, Arne Sloth, said what he thinks about his team's match against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, which will be held today in Warsaw.
"The fact that the match will be held in Warsaw because of the war in Ukraine is a very special situation. Of course, we follow the war in the Netherlands as well, but from there the distance to Ukraine is very long. Now that we are here, seeing Ukrainians and imagining that their families may suffer because of the war, it is all very hard to realize.
The neutral field factor will affect the game in some way. Because if we played in Donetsk, the stadium would probably be full, and the hosts would have had more support. On the other hand, now Shakhtar Donetsk have a lot of young Ukrainian players who will surely want to show their mettle, because they are now playing for a much bigger goal than simply qualifying for the Europa League quarterfinals.
As for our opponents, Shakhtar have picked up six points in the Champions League group stage, played out a draw against Real and lost only twice. And these are the results of a team which has lost many internationals. In general, Shakhtar is an interesting opponent to analyze, because this team plays disciplined and good soccer. I'm impressed with both their understanding of the game and the intensity with which they play. We need to be incredibly good on Thursday to then be able to get the result we want in the return match.
As for our team, it is possible that we will give some players a rest. This is not because we think that the return match is more important. It has more to do with the fact that many of our players are close to the limit of their physical abilities. It's not that they can't handle it, but the match schedule sometimes takes its toll," Sloth said at the pre-match press conference.