Van Leeuwen on Porto defeat: It was a shame. There is a class difference

Shakhtar’s head coach shared his impressions of his team’s start to the Champions League.

There is a difference in class between Shakhtar and Porto, which gave results in the first game of the Champions League group round. This is what the head coach of the Donetsk club, Patrick Van Leeuwen, thinks.

According to the Pitmen coach, the mistakes of the players also had an impact on the match and the road to Hamburg, which took a long time.

“In the past weeks we had to make decisions with the players involved in the national teams and those who took part in every game of the championship. We are trying to build a team that can give their maximum effort in all the matches throughout the week That’s why some players We started a lot of matches before, but not anymore.

I think Daniil Sikan started well, using his speed. In the case of the second goal, he made the mistake of thinking he could clear the ball and switch flanks, but it was the wrong decision that led to the goal being conceded. I also don’t think there’s any need to replace him at half-time – we should give him a chance to improve to see if we can exploit his pace again.

We have more than eleven players, so at some point we make different decisions.

The stadium is full, so I think coming here is a good decision for Shakhtar. Many people here show interest in international games. I am happy with the venue of the match and the fact that the fans came. In my opinion, yes, Hamburg is a good choice.

Any of our trips, for example, to a training camp or a friendly game abroad, require time to cross the border. And it’s not just the travel process itself, you also have to wait and go through passport control. Then it will take us some time to get to our boarding point for the plane to Hamburg. Finally, taking into account the time difference, the journey takes about eight to nine hours instead of the usual two-hour flight.

I think there is a difference in quality and experience, but there is always a possibility. I don’t think if we didn’t make mistakes we wouldn’t have conceded, but I think we stayed in the game more. My players can be more confident in this case. We conceded the first goal, reacted well and equalized, but we still conceded the second quickly. We don’t have time to enjoy the result of a good job to get back in the game. It’s a shame. Yes, there is a difference in quality,” Shakhtar’s official website quoted Patrick van Leeuwen as saying.

We remind you that Shakhtar lost to Port in the opening game of the Champions League.

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