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Shakhtar Donetsk legend, and now football expert Viktor Grachev, commented on the 0-0 draw in the match on matchday six of the Champions League group stage, where the mountain women faced Inter de Milan. And he also summarized the results of the team’s performance at this stage.
– What impression did the game make on you?
– Shakhtar could continue to play in the Champions League, if they had the correct and skillful counter-attacks. There were chances to score at least one goal. From 60 minutes onwards, Inter opened up and gave space to the speedy Shakhtar players. But on the other hand, they could have missed the same, and they would not have talked about any Europa League. Therefore, everything is natural, the score corresponds to the level of teams that were matched.
– The key moment of the game.
– Two points can be made. The first, when at the start of the match, “Inter” had the opportunity to score, the ball hit the crossbar. The second, already in the 55th minute, was a magnificent save by Trubin, who dragged the ball out of the first nine. At the beginning we had a Soccer Fart on our side, without which it is impossible to win anything, and then the goalkeeper showed his maturity. After all, the game continued until the decisive goal. If Shakhtar had scored first, they would have won, if Inter had scored, Shakhtar would not have won again. The Pitmen resisted the pressure, the charge, but it is a pity that good counterattacks did not find their logical conclusion. There was no auction, no auction or last pass. The finishing touch was missing. Perhaps the absence of Moraes, who knows how to put the end point in the combination, affected. And this is inconvenient for Shakhtar.
– It should be noted that before the game there were fears for the center of the defense, but since they did not fit in, it means that they played reliably. And most importantly, they neutralized Lukaku.
There were blots on Cooper, on Vitao, they had to act under pressure, but this is the Champions League, not the Ukrainian championship, so there will always be minor mistakes. The main thing was not to allow rudeness to influence the result. And of course, it is worth noting the genius of the young goalkeeper Trubin, who, as a reliable last line, cemented the entire defense. Your skill grows by leaps and bounds, in every game.
– You can observe a new method of playing Shakhtar.
– It should be noted that Castro teaches Shakhtar to play for the result, which is more important in football. You can play wonderfully, but if there is no result, all fruitful work will be ruined. The result is the result and the end point of the work of any coach and team. At one point, Lucescu was promoted to playing attacking football, Fonseca, in the same football as his predecessor. You don’t need to play attacking soccer all the time, but you need to find your balance and when you need to play rationally. If the opponent is strong, then use tactics that allow you to play zero first on defense and look for an opportunity on counterattacks. This is what we saw in the games with “Real”, with “Inter”, where we got the result. But with “Borussia” they ran to attack, as a result, a full basket. Did you have to draw conclusions? Luis Castro did. And that was the right approach. Now the Shakhtar is armed with various playing tactics: how to play with overwhelming advantage, on counterattacks, a combined method, and finally, if necessary, play tight on defense. And it’s great!
– Is third place in the group logical? Could the Shakhtar achieve more?
– I must say that Shakhtar got into the “group of death”. All four teams could claim more. What can I say if until the last round, until the last second of the match, it was not clear who and where would play. Leaving Inter even without the Europa League, you should be able to do it. And Shakhtar did. First of all, we want to mention Luis Castra. He did a tremendous job after painful defeats against Borussia, having managed to get the team out of psychological immersion. When it was necessary to play for the result, he refined the team to achieve the goal. First they beat Real, and then, calmly and without panic, they tied with Inter. And if you remember the defeat of the summer by 0: 5 in the semifinals of the same Milanese, now he has found an antidote to how to come back successfully. As a result, they did not lose in two matches and managed to suppress their formidable weapon in the person of Lukaku. He usually has 3-4 chances per game, but in this game there is only one, which means that we have overcome it.
Kashtra outpaced Conte tactically, both in the first game in Kiev and in Milan. Shakhtar drew the correct conclusions after 0: 5, and today they played very competently in defense, strongly saturating the defense, when necessary, Stepanenko also played as third central defender, and thus the attack of the Milanese was a weight between the midfield and defense line. In this match we saw the character, the will, the courage and the best qualities of the players of the Shakhtar of the “miner”. We have to congratulate the team for continuing to participate in the Europa League. I repeat: it could have been better or it could have been worse. Better so than nothing.
The draw for the 1/16 finals of the Europa League will take place on Monday. Shakhtar will be among the seeds, that is, they will not face the teams that won their groups in the LE.
