In the opening match of the 8th round of the UPL, Shakhtar failed to beat Veres on the road (1:1)
Head coach Shakhtar Marino Pusic gave a press conference after the draw with Veres (1:1) within the 8th round UPL.
“Of course, we created enough chances to expect to win this match. I think that you, like me, watched the game and had the opportunity to see that we had enough chances to score a second time and even score more goals, so in terms of the quality of the game and our attacking potential, we deserved to win today’s match . However, it happened the way it happened. As for the first half, we created one or two good, high-quality chances, but before the break we perhaps lacked execution in the final stage. And already in the second half we completely changed the picture precisely in terms of the quality of the game.”
“The atmosphere at the stadium in Rivne? Of course, this is a wonderful range of emotions, it’s just incredible. Since football, in principle, exists for spectators and is primarily a phenomenon for fans, so being in a completely filled stadium and being part of this process is an incredible feeling. I sincerely hope that in the near future we will be able to see as many matches like this as possible in front of full stadiums.”
“Can we say that after today’s draw, Shakhtar lost the championship? Naturally, losing points is always unpleasant. But I always emphasize that the championship is a marathon over a long distance: losses of points always occur, but the championship continues and there will be opportunities. Of course, at the beginning of the season, losing points is unpleasant, as in any period, but this does not in any way affect the course of the championship race as such.”
Shakhtar won only 4 of the 7 opening UPL matches – in addition to a draw against Veres, the Miners suffered defeats from Polissya and Alexandria.
In the UPL standings, Marino Pusic’s team is in 4th position with 13 points.
Shakhtar will play their next match on October 2 against Atalanta as part of the Champions League, and in the UPL on October 6 the Miners will play against LNZ.
Source: Sportarena

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