The captain of Donetsk Shakhtar commented on his team’s victory in the opening match of the Champions League.
Despite the victory in the opening match against Leipzig, it is too early for Shakhtar’s players and fans to rejoice, as it is still unknown where the Ukrainian team will end up in the end. This opinion was expressed by the captain of the team Taras Stepanenko in an interview with the press service of the Donetsk club.
In his opinion, now there is a very young team in Shakhtar, which may not be stable. However, Stepanenko believes that Shakhtar deserved to win in Germany.
“Even before the game, I knew that we were in a good condition to play a good match. We deserved this victory. I felt that we have a good team, where everyone helps each other. No easy to win, because Leipzig is a very strong team, but we gave all their strength on the field and deserved this victory.
What a crazy night. Victory 4:1. We are in the right frame of mind. If you have a close team, you have every chance to win. We deserve this result and move on.
Because of the situation in Ukraine, we have a completely new team, but all the guys have gone through the Shakhtar Academy, they have the mentality and spirit of this club, they know how the club played at its peak in Donetsk. All the boys have the right mindset – it means a lot to our club. You see that there is a team on the field. Yes, today we don’t have big stars, but we have a team – I think in such circumstances it is very important.
When we got into the Champions League, I was calm for my team. I think we have a good chance to get out of the group. I don’t know if we will finish in second, third or fourth place. We have a good chance to continue playing in the European competition in February or March next year. I don’t know for sure, but we’ll see in the future. You see, young players can play one match at the highest level, and fail at the second. We will try to show our best,” said Stepanenko.
Recall that Shakhtar started the 2022/23 Champions League with a 4-1 defeat away to Leipzig.
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Source: korrespondent
I am William Jackson and I have a passion for sports journalism. With over 3 years of experience in the industry, I have worked in a variety of roles to improve the quality and accuracy of sports news coverage. As an author at Athletistic, I specialize in covering football news and providing comprehensive analysis for fans around the world.
