Sparrow: Stepanenko and Sudakov – MVP of the Shakhtar – Antwerp match

Victory Shakhtar above Antwerp in the fifth round match of the group stage of the Champions League, UEFA allowed the Ukrainian champion not only to guarantee itself a place in the playoff round of the Europa League in the spring, but also keep your chances of reaching the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. Highlights of the match Shakhtar – Antwerp discussed with the famous former player of Donetsk Gornyakov and the Ukrainian national team Andrey Voroby.

— Who was your favorite in this fight?

— If you just look at the standings of our group, then this is Shakhtar. However, in the Champions League, as we know, there are no favorites until the referee’s starting whistle. I would estimate the chances to be 50 to 50%. Of course, the Miners’ coaching staff is worried about the team’s not very successful performance in the UPL. After the victory over Barcelona, ​​the orange-and-blacks could not win either against Dnepr-1 or Polesie. This worries everyone. But Antwerp, on the contrary, improved its performance in the Belgian Championship.

— Did Shakhtar’s starting line-up surprise you?

– In principle, no. As I already noted, Marino Pusic does not like to make many changes in the starting line-up. And he doesn’t particularly welcome the principle of player rotation. Maybe someone expected Artem Bondarenko to play in the starting lineup, but he just recovered from injury.

— It’s not often that you see both Georgian defenders – Gocholeishvili and Azarov – playing in the miners’ defense from the starting minutes. What do you think of their performance in this important match?

— I saw a very great desire from these guys to play usefully for the team. Both Georgian players played actively in attacks and tried to act reliably in defense. I agree that Gocholeishvili made certain individual mistakes, but he compensated for this with his assertiveness and high-speed play.

— Andrey Alekseevich, what did you think when the Donetsk team scored an early goal? By the way, this was the debut goal for Nikolai Matvienko in the Champions League.

— Firstly, Nikolay has already scored similar goals in the Ukrainian Championship. And more than once. Secondly, in the last month Matvienko has experienced a certain decline. We saw that Matvienko did not play in the extremely important match with the Italian national team. But in the game with Antwerp, Nikolai was one of the most reliable players on our team. In this episode, I’ll also note a cool free-kick assist from Zubkov. And then the miners’ central defender won a single combat against his opponent and made a clear header. At the right time for the team, Matvienko was useful for Shakhtar.

— Did this goal give strength to the Donetsk team?

– Certainly. The guests already had to win back. After conceding the goal, the guests took the initiative for about 15 minutes, but no more. In general, the first half of the match was dictated by our team. I think that our guys could have scored one more goal against the opponent before the break.

— The second half was already dictated by the guests. What do you attribute this to?

— Yes, the second half of the match turned out to be valid. Overall, we saw a good fight that was quite intense. The Belgian players went all-in, they had nothing to lose. And during the meeting, Mark van Bommel only replaced attacking players.

Of course, the guests caused problems for our team. But Shakhtar players almost always held their opponents back. They were counting on a penalty, but the referee considered Janssen’s fall to be spectacular. Closer to the final whistle, Shakhtar’s players had every opportunity to score a second goal and calm the game, but we don’t know how to do that. The Donetsk team kept all the fans in good shape until the last minute of the match.

— The guests were very unhappy when, after Bondar delayed Janssen, the Polish referee did not award a penalty against Riznyk…

— I played as a forward, and, as a former striker, I will say that there were prerequisites for awarding a penalty in that episode. However, the Polish referee acted brotherly with the Ukrainian club. Thank God that everything was resolved this way.

— After a dry victory over Barcelona, ​​the miners again kept a clean sheet in the game against Antwerp. This happened to Shakhtar extremely rarely in the Champions League. Do you attribute this only to the reliable play of Dmitry Riznyk?

“It’s not just about the goalkeeper, but also about how our players play when defending their own goal. As for our goalkeeper, he saved Shakhtar in stoppage time – his save was excellent. I like that Riznyk acts confidently both on the goal line and on exits; he is not bad in the game with his feet. His play instills confidence in the actions of defenders, above all.

— In your opinion, after Trubin’s transfer to Benfica, Riznyk was able to completely replace Anatoly?

– It’s too early to talk about this. Still, Trubin had performances in three group tournaments of the Champions League behind him. At first, Trubin also made mistakes in European matches, against strong teams. The experience gained will help Riznyk play more confidently next year.

— How do you like the performance of Georgy Sudakov, one of the team leaders?

— Sudakov is Shakhtar’s workhorse. He knows how to move attacks and does a lot of running work. It will be interesting to see how far Georgiy ran in this meeting. But for me, in this match, Taras Stepanenko became the best football player of the match. He cemented both the center of defense and the middle of the field. Taras was everywhere that evening. It was in this most important match that Stepanenko showed the character that is inherent in Shakhtar football players. Looking at him, the younger players also played hard. So Stepanenko and Sudakov, for me, are the two MVPs of the fight.

— On December 13 in Porto it will be decided who will reach the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. Remembering the hopeless first match of the group tournament against the Portuguese for the Ukrainian team, do our guys have a chance to win at Dragao?

– Let’s remind you that the Donetsk team has already earned the minimum in the group – the Europa League in their pocket. But in a single game in Porto, anything can happen. It is clear that Barcelona and Porto are top clubs by European standards. In Portugal it will be very difficult for Shakhtar to resist his opponent. This is an athletic team, the Porto players are very technical. But with proper dedication, it is possible for our guys to achieve the desired victory.

— Many experts say that it will be easier for Shakhtar to play and earn points for the Ukrainian rating by playing in the Europa League than in the Champions League. Do you agree with this opinion?

– No. The Champions League is the most prestigious tournament in Europe. You just need to look there. They give 5 bonus points for reaching the 1/8 finals and pay huge prize money. So all eyes are on the Champions League.

— Has Marino Pusic already fully settled into Shakhtar?

“I think he hasn’t fully recognized the guys’ capabilities yet.” This takes time. I think that after the winter training camp the Bosnian specialist will have a complete picture. In the meantime, results in Europe come from the talent of the players, their desire and character.