Former Ukraine striker Oleksandr Palianytsia commented on Shakhtar's Champions League match against Barcelona toКОМАНДА1 .
Oleksandr Palianytsia- Of course, it can be argued that Barcelona is no longer the same, which, by the way, is evidenced by its performances in La Liga, but this is the Catalans' problem. After all, every team acts as its opponent allows it to. And yesterday, Shakhtar made sure that the match went according to their scenario.
- From this point, please, more specifically...
- At the pre-match press conference, the new Shakhtar head coach Marino Pušić intrigued us with the fact that his team would play with courage against the Catalans. The Balkan specialist did not throw words to the wind. In the first half, Donetsk were active, exemplary in attacking and dictating the terms. As for me, they deserved to go into the break with a lead...
- But, you must admit, in the second half, there was a slightly different Shakhtar on the pitch...
- Yes. "Barcelona started to have much more possession, perhaps because the Pitmen started to play to the scoreline. But the main thing is that the nominal hosts were ready for such a figurative change of scenery. They were very organised in their own half of the pitch, and they were able to limit the visitors' space with reliable cover.
It was also important that Donetsk managed to block the Catalans' runs on the flanks, so their scorer Lewandowski was almost invisible. "The Shakhtar were confident and acted from a position of strength. To be honest, before the match I thought it would be very good if Pushic's men drew, but they jumped over their heads.
- The rather unexpected victory in Hamburg guaranteed the Pitmen a minimum programme - continuing to play in the Europa League in the spring...
- You know, since there are still chances to make it to the Champions League play-offs, I am convinced that Donetsk will fight to the end. Most likely, the fate of the ticket to the next round will be decided on 13 December in the Porto vs Shakhtar match. So maybe the "devil's dozen" will not be lucky for the Portuguese giants?
Vasyl Mikhailov
