The head coach of Donetsk “Shakhtar” Marino Pushich talked about his expectations for his team’s match against the English “Arsenal” in the 3rd round of the main stage of the Champions League, which will take place today in London.
“It should be understood that there is a big difference in the quality of the two leagues, so it is very difficult for a Ukrainian club to compete at this level. This is a big challenge. We will do everything possible, as always. You can never know for sure — it’s just one game. And in this game we have to perform ideally to achieve a result. We understand this and will make every effort.
If you are competing for first place for three to four years in the best league in the world, in my opinion, like “Arsenal” does, then your club is one of the best in the world. But with each new opponent, with each subsequent team, you can lose — even if you are as strong as “Arsenal”.
Every match has its own story, every opponent has its own story. That’s why every time everything is different. Of course, we have our strategy and game plan. As I said, sometimes this is not enough. There are many circumstances that affect the result. We have to act almost ideally to achieve a result in confrontation with this team, and we understand this. But we are here to compete. We will show our game, as we always do, and adhere to our philosophy. And this philosophy will never change as long as I am the coach of “Shakhtar”. Perhaps certain details will be different, but I am focused on victory. We always play to win, we do not play to lose. If our opponent is much better than us and forces us to defend, of course, we will have to defend. This is normal and logical. But we are here to compete.
It’s incredible how we have to travel for these away matches. We traveled 13 hours: this is a very difficult journey that takes a lot of time and energy. At the same time, we are a very motivated team, and we are mentally ready. So, despite all these circumstances, we did not come here to complain. This is just a fact that we unfortunately constantly face. I think we are the only club in the world at this level that is in such conditions. It doesn’t make it easier for us, but as I said, we are a team that came here to compete, not to complain. And we play football,” said Pushich at the pre-match press conference.
