Hutter: Shakhtar was better today

– Of course, Shakhtar has won deservedly. We had great opening 15 minutes and a perfect opportunity for Alexander Gerndt. But then we had difficulty keeping the pace at which we started, and Shakhtar demonstrated the players’ individual brilliance and their class. It was very difficult to play against this team. We need to praise our goalkeeper, who had a terrific match. In principle, we are ok with the result, It hurts, but Shakhtar were the better team today.

– People say that "There are chances, when none seem to exist." What expectations do you have for the upcoming second leg?
– In Switzerland people also say that hope dies last. Of course, we now understand that beating such opponents would be incredibly difficult. To do so, we need to have a perfect home game. In principle, we are very good at home, so we cannot say that it is absolutely impossible. But again, we need to play it perfectly. Only then will we have a real chance.

– What happened? Why have the team 'deflated' after a good start? Was there anything unexpected in the Pitmen’s actions?
– I'll start from the latter. Shakhtar did not surprise us, but we surprised them a little since we had a powerful start to the match. We had four or five corners with scoring opportunities. But after that the opponents have shown excellent challenge-winning percentage. However, Shakhtar players added speed in midfield, began to play a much more aggressive game, and we just could not keep up the pace, as we did before.

– What about Gerndt, who left the field with the help of doctors?
– As far as I know, he damaged his knee. I hope that this is not a serious injury, but just a little damage. But, apparently, there is not much hope there.

– In the home game you definitely cannot concede, and you will need to score twice. How will you find the balance between defence and attack? And how are you planning not to concede against Shakhtar given today's number of scoring chances at your goal?
– We do not lose hope. We know very well what awaits us, but we will play at home, and we have artificial pitch to boot. Today, the first 15 minutes showed what our game looks like in general. We will try to show this kind of football for the whole 90 minutes. We need to be very compact and aggressive. Of course, this is a difficult task, and Shakhtar are the clear favourites. But again, I do not abandon the hope that we will succeed.

– If you could turn back time, would you field the same line-up?
– Yes. In any case, the captain would be missing as well as key defence players. This is a serious loss, so I could not do anything to change the line-up.

– Why are Young Boys leaving Lviv only Wednesday afternoon? Did you like it so much here, or are there other reasons?
– Yes, you can assume that the decision was made beacuse Young Boys liked it in Lviv. Thank you so much for your hospitality and we will be very happy to see Shakhtar in Bern next week!