“Even the horses should rest before the race.”

Shakhtar Head Coach Luis Castro Before the game with Real Madrid, he talked about the goal, the task and the desire to continue on the path in the Champions League

– Before the first game against Real, Shakhtar had serious personnel problems, so all experts said that underestimation of the opponent could become the main asset. Now Madrid will play with the idea of ​​revenge. What can become your trump card in this situation?

– We are aware that this fight has nothing to do with the previous ones, neither successful nor unsuccessful. Tomorrow there will be a very specific game. We know it will be difficult, because this is a decisive match for both us and the rival in the context of the continuation of the fight in the Champions League. It is very important to approach the fight correctly. In fact, many of those who played in our squad in Madrid may have been underestimated by their opponents. Our game surprised many, including Real Madrid. Tomorrow it will be easier because the teams are already more familiar with each other. And it is much easier for Real Madrid to guess our possible starting eleven. First of all, we must be strong in defense and try to neutralize all the opponent’s strengths. Strategically, as in the first case, the game will be strong enough. It is important not to deviate too much from what we showed in the first match, to show ourselves in exactly the same way. We want to win tomorrow and continue playing in the Champions League, despite how tough Real’s rival is.

– Doesn’t it bother you in your analysis that Real Madrid have a very good game with Inter, and then weaker with Alavés?

– What is happening with Real Madrid is happening with a large number of top-level European clubs. No one is used to teams being so unstable. Let’s take a look: what kind of world do we live in now? We lose players from one week to the next: we can simply lose three or four players to injuries, COVID … Everything that was atypical and abnormal before is now normal. We must gradually get used to it. Teams are unstable. We also play a good game, then a less successful one. All of this is happening. We go through different stages during this season. You can look at us, Real, Manchester United, Liverpool, PSG … All the European giants are going through difficult times. People should understand that there is no stability now. We didn’t have an off-season training camp, a vacation, a normal long transition from one season to another. One ended, the next immediately, a few days later, began. Today we are not coaches, but a kind of managers to respond to what is happening. We try to come up with the strategy, carry out the recovery and go to the game, and all of this repeats cyclically. We cannot train properly now. This is the world we live in today. Perhaps those who do not understand football, do not feel it, do not understand it. As he has pointed out, many teams are going through a very difficult time now.

– This season, Shakhtar are not showing the results expected of them, in addition to serious personnel problems that they had not encountered before. Do you feel support from leadership during this difficult time, and if so, what kind?

– Yes, of course, you feel the support of the administration and the fans. After all, what happens in a good family? When someone has problems in the family, everyone should understand, accept and try to help in some way. So it is with us. Of course, this season is very difficult. When we finished last season, we had to go on vacation, then do training camp, but none of this happened. I want to remind you that we were in the semi-finals of the Europa League, we had regular matches, this is a difficult schedule without holidays or training camp. It is cruel. You know, in sports there is that characteristic, and it also applies to football: even horses must rest before each race. And we are also people, and this must be understood. The calendar is very complicated, the games are constant. When we lose 11 players to COVID, everyone reads it on the news, but for whatever reason, sometimes no one wants to fully understand it. Compared to last season, we have the same players, the same coaching staff, the same administration and the same fans. The context has changed, the conditions in which we live now. Again, there is very little instability. Of course, our fans don’t like it when we show less successful results than last year. On the other hand, such a team finished the last Ukrainian championship 23 points away from second place and made it to the semi-finals of the Europa League. The loss of points and the rather poor performance of the current season are difficult. I can say one thing: the players are trying, the coaching staff is trying. Many people around us also fully support us. In reality, the world is not changing that fast. It will be a very difficult season, and with a snap of the fingers not everything will change from one to another. We read the news: there is unemployment, there is hunger. We also have so much instability in football now: it is very difficult for us. Everyone should understand this, but, unfortunately, probably no one wants this. Do you want me to tell you about the 5 best European championships and how they are played there? You know perfectly what is happening with these teams and I have repeated it more than once. People who don’t want to understand this may want more instability. Because it is necessary? No, we will settle all accounts in the end. When the season is over, then we will review, we will look at the balance of the championship and we will understand who is better and who is worse. Only at the end.

– Pyatov played in the last match of the Champions League, Trubin played in the championship. Who will leave tomorrow?

– You know, when Trubin came back from the national team, he couldn’t play for a while. In that sense, he was not prepared, so we did not put him in that game. As soon as he was fully ready, we released him into the championship in a duel with Dnipro-1. Tomorrow he will probably play Trubin.

The Shakhtar vs Real Champions League match will take place on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:55 p.m. Kiev time.