Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Marino Pušić commented on his side's 1-0 victory over Belgian side Antwerp in the Champions League group stage matchday 5 in Hamburg yesterday.
"Firstly, I have to say that we played very well in our league, but we didn't score goals after good chances, which is why we drew in the last game (against Polissia, 0-0 - ed.). And even in the match before that (against Dnipro-1, 1-3 - ed.) we played very good football.
I have to mention this because if you think that a draw is not a good enough result, it is not, we played great. There is a big difference in emotions, an empty stadium, it is not easy to play in such conditions not only for our players but also for other clubs. And then you play in the Champions League in this stadium with a lot of people - and almost all the tickets were sold out, we got a lot of support from our fans - and it gives us a little bit of a different energy. This is not the reason for the draw then or the win now, but there is a difference in emotions and motivation.
I want to reiterate that the last two games in the league may have been the best so far, but as you can see, football is about emotions, and people think that if you draw once, it's bad. I don't agree with that, those matches were incredible. But this is another matter.
First of all, we are very proud of our first important achievement - the fact that we will remain in European competitions after the winter break. And we may still have the opportunity to stay at the highest level in Europe - the Champions League. We performed well, I am very pleased.
It was a tough game, it's a Champions League match where you have to play against very strong opponents, well-organised and of high quality. But, once again, my players do more than I ask of them - not only for me as a coach, but also for the club. And this is very important: discipline, organisation. As I said before, they want to play according to my instructions, and I want to compete with everyone, and they show it. I'm a very happy coach with these guys," said Pušić after the Antwerp match.