Former Shakhtar defender Artem Fedetsky assessed the team’s chances of reaching the Champions League playoffs.
“There is no need to look at the opponents. Someone might say that Shakhtar is a young team, but globally speaking, Shakhtar is an experienced team now. Of course, there are other factors. A lot of energy is spent on travel, it’s not the recovery that would be ideal. Well, we are working with the realities that exist.
Therefore, despite the opponents, they need to play calmly, not to think about whether we will advance or not, but just to play. Because our mentality is different; in Ukrainian teams, we think, calculate in our heads what will happen next, if we don’t advance, can we defeat those teams or not. However, most teams in Europe, practically all, play from game to game. They go out and play.
And so they will need to try to do the same. At this time, when there is war in the country, we need to think about Ukraine, that they are playing for our defenders first and foremost. Because our guys are also watching them and worrying about them.
Of course, you need to enjoy the moment, to give everything on the football field. You don’t play against opponents like Bayern every day, in such stadiums. Therefore, we need to support both Dynamo and Shakhtar, because these are our Ukrainian clubs that want to showcase themselves as best as possible on the European stage,” Fedetsky said.