Famous Ukrainian coach and former goalkeeper Yuriy Virt shared his impressions of Shakhtar's game against Porto in the final, sixth round of the Champions League group stage.
- I really enjoyed the game. I'm sure all the fans did too, especially the neutral ones. How can you not like such a goal? However, Shakhtar's coach Marino Pushic definitely didn't like this result, because conceding five goals is too many. Yesterday, both at Shakhtar and Porto, the attack played much better than the defence. However, you know, I wouldn't criticise Shakhtar too much. They played against a really good, strong team. We played on their pitch. We had some psychological pressure because we understood the importance of the result. But we did not disgrace ourselves. We fought with dignity and scored three goals against Porto. Even Barcelona did not score three goals against them. This is worth a lot. Yes, there are questions about the defence. They did not play in the best way. But everything is fair. A game by game, as they say.
- In my opinion, one of the key events was the replacement of Yaroslav Rakitsky with Kevin Kelsey. Pushic went all-in and the bet didn't pay off.
- I agree that Pushic went all-in. What was there to lose? At the time, the score was 3-1 in favour of Porto. Marino tried to turn the game around, but it didn't work. Therefore, the substitution is not fatal. I don't agree with that. But if you are implying that there would not have been five goals with Rakitskiy in the centre, then perhaps there is a rational grain in this.
- What do you think of Valerii Bondar's performance? I don't want to criticise him, but I'll allow myself to call him the worst player of the match against Porto, because at least the first goal is on his conscience.
- Against Porto, Shakhtar played their weakest game since Marino Pušić arrived. Everything went in. Everything that was not scored by Barcelona, Antwerp and Dynamo Kyiv. The whole defence played poorly, to put it mildly. I would not like to criticise Bondar personally. Giorgi Gocholeishvili, for example, was not on fire either. Neither Mykola Matvienko nor Dmytro Riznyk helped out at the last line. Shakhtar's team play in defence in Porto failed. Unfortunately, it happens.
- Following the game at the Estadio do Dragão, who can be called the mole of the match or the lion, as is customary after our national team's matches?
- Danylo Sikan showed himself well. He scored, sharpened, pressed, sometimes "nightmarised" the Porto defence. He showed a good game. But Oleksandr Zubkov and Taras Stepanenko, in my opinion, also played at a high level and there should be no questions about them.
- What do you think of Georgii Sudakov? Probably, if you believe Fabrizio Romano and other authoritative and not so authoritative insiders, this was his last match in an orange and black shirt.
- I understand what you are getting at. I would like it to be Sudakov's last match for Shakhtar and for him to join Juventus in the winter transfer window. Since the days of Oleksandr Zavarov, no Ukrainian has played for Juve. This is a very high level club, needless to say. The best team in Italy - given the number of trophies, yes. Sudakov deserves to play in one of the leading European championships with his game, perseverance, hard work, and the way he has grown over the past few years. Whether it will be the Italian Serie A and Juventus or another top European club, we'll see.
- Sudakov is not a grenadier, so I think Serie A will be better for him than, say, the English Premier League. The same Mykhailo Mudryk is suffering in the Premier League, and it will soon be a year, and he still hasn't played...
- You are right to some extent. But, for example, Vitaliy Mykolenko also does not have outstanding anthropometric data, but look how he has been playing for Everton lately. He's been playing great, and he's often recognised as the player of the match. He was the best against Chelsea, wasn't he?
- No , he wasn't. You're right, it was Vitaliy who was named MVP. Yuriy Mykolayovych, the game against Porto was a milestone for Pušić - then the holiday and the winter off-season. That is, it is already possible to draw some interim results of his work. How much has Shakhtar changed in this short time, or is the train still moving by inertia?
- There are changes, but not global ones. And this is understandable, because Pushic's term at Shakhtar is still too short. We will count the chickens in the spring. But, in my opinion, Pushich's Shakhtar is returning to the Shakhtar of the best days of Mircea Lucescu, Paulo Fonseca and Roberto De Zerbi. In recent games, we can see that Shakhtar have abandoned the so-called vertical football and are returning to the way the team focuses on controlling the ball, trying to play quickly with short passes and switch from defence to attack. Slowly, Pushic is returning Shakhtar's disciplined defensive play, we have already talked about the match against Porto, it was an exception, but in general, the Pitmen's play from the back has become much better recently. And the microclimate in the team has definitely improved after Patrick van Leeuwen was fired, which is very important.
- Winter is the time for purchases. What area does Shakhtar need to strengthen first of all?
- Fresh blood is always needed, but. You know, Marino Pushic has a fairly balanced team now. Lasina Traore will return from hospital, I hope, and the team will have a powerful, great forward in addition to Sikan. Yukhym Konoplya will recover and the defence will definitely become more reliable. Of course, if Georgii Sudakov is sold, I hope it will be for his benefit, first of all, then it is clear that we will need to look for a worthy replacement for his position in the centre. Otherwise, I wouldn't say that the Pitmen need to make any serious transfers this winter. "Shakhtar are well-staffed now. How well is a question for Marino Pušić, because he will be asked for the result in the spring, not me (smiles) .
Viktor Glukhenkyi