It was tough, but we remained ourselves
Thursday, September 19, 2019
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Shakhtar manager Luis Castro reflects on the match vs Manchester City, substitutions, the group situation, and the chat with Guardiola
- Before the match, they talked a lot about the necessity to press the opponents high up field but it didn’t work at all. Why was it so, according to you?
- In the first half, we focussed more on the fact that our midfield third would put pressure, but City are trying to shut any opponent in the last third of the pitch through their skill. After the break, we tried to press them a little higher, but because of this, we exposed some space between our thirds, with the visitors taking advantage of that and continuing to carry out attacks. At such moments, the City players with sufficient ease occupied the spaces between the lines and carried out some quality blistering attacks - not due to our incompetence, but because of their huge competence. Their only goal in the second half was scored precisely because we got stretched too much. We were defeated by one of the major Champions League title challengers.
- Please share what Guardiola told you after the final whistle.
- It was a regular post-match chat between the coaches. I said that playing them is really difficult and congratulated him on the victory. He replied that it’s really tough against them because they are among the best sides.
- Don’t you think that a large number of lost balls was caused by the mental state?
- Yes, technical errors can be present in any match, but when they happen against such rivals in the games of this level, everything gets much more dangerous. Perhaps in the domestic Championship, that kind of mistake will not lead to any danger near our penalty area, but in the Champions League everything is different. It’s important that we remained ourselves. Despite all the difficulties, we tried to play it forward and to carry out attacks in a quality fashion. Of course, if you simply knock the ball forward, the risk of such technical errors decreases. Nevertheless, we continued to play as we always do, despite the fact that it was hard. We tried and did our best, but, unfortunately, it did not work out. Our first scoring chance occurred already at 0-1 - we could’ve equalized in just a couple of minutes. We failed to convert the chance which was built up in a quality way from one box to the other box. And a few minutes later, City made it 2-0 in their favour. After that, the hope fades a little, because it gets even more difficult to overturn that kind of result.
- What was the aim of replacing Alan Patrick with Marcos Antonio? Please comment on the performance of both of them.
- I always talk about the team, and we will discuss it individually only within the team. Why we decided to make that substitution? Alan left his position quite often when this wasn’t necessary, and his performance was already affected by fatigue. We fielded Marcos, who was more fixed there and more effective in transitions from defence to attack. In fact, defensive midfielders perform an important task: they ensure the passing game for switching wings or playing in between the thirds. We had Bolbat, Solomon, and Stepanenko at the right-hand side, and Alan Patrick, Ismaily, and Taison on the left-hand one. In those triangles, either Patrick or Stepanenko were responsible for changing flanks. We knew that this task would tire the players, and at some point we simply decided to field the fresh Marcos Antonio. The players had to both feed our attacks and help defensively, especially in midfield, where Manchester City are the strongest.
- Your predecessor promised to appear in the mask of Zorro in case of reaching the knockout phase. What extravagant act are you capable of in case of defeating City away?
- Of course, I won’t comment on the things that Paulo did. I would just be very happy that we’ve been through to the Champions League last 16. In life, I have always tried to keep calm and balanced emotions in my life. I'm not at that age when people get terribly upset or just jump with happiness. I would just experience great joy. Perhaps you won’t ask me about that, so I want to mention our fans myself. The stadium was packed with Shakhtar fans! They are our soul, our strength, we work every day to please them. We would love to leave the stadium as winners for our fans to be happy - we will try to do this in the future. I want to thank both those who were present at the stadium and those who supported us by watching the match on TV. Thank you very much!
- In the first half, we focussed more on the fact that our midfield third would put pressure, but City are trying to shut any opponent in the last third of the pitch through their skill. After the break, we tried to press them a little higher, but because of this, we exposed some space between our thirds, with the visitors taking advantage of that and continuing to carry out attacks. At such moments, the City players with sufficient ease occupied the spaces between the lines and carried out some quality blistering attacks - not due to our incompetence, but because of their huge competence. Their only goal in the second half was scored precisely because we got stretched too much. We were defeated by one of the major Champions League title challengers.
- Please share what Guardiola told you after the final whistle.
- It was a regular post-match chat between the coaches. I said that playing them is really difficult and congratulated him on the victory. He replied that it’s really tough against them because they are among the best sides.
- Don’t you think that a large number of lost balls was caused by the mental state?
- Yes, technical errors can be present in any match, but when they happen against such rivals in the games of this level, everything gets much more dangerous. Perhaps in the domestic Championship, that kind of mistake will not lead to any danger near our penalty area, but in the Champions League everything is different. It’s important that we remained ourselves. Despite all the difficulties, we tried to play it forward and to carry out attacks in a quality fashion. Of course, if you simply knock the ball forward, the risk of such technical errors decreases. Nevertheless, we continued to play as we always do, despite the fact that it was hard. We tried and did our best, but, unfortunately, it did not work out. Our first scoring chance occurred already at 0-1 - we could’ve equalized in just a couple of minutes. We failed to convert the chance which was built up in a quality way from one box to the other box. And a few minutes later, City made it 2-0 in their favour. After that, the hope fades a little, because it gets even more difficult to overturn that kind of result.
- What was the aim of replacing Alan Patrick with Marcos Antonio? Please comment on the performance of both of them.
- I always talk about the team, and we will discuss it individually only within the team. Why we decided to make that substitution? Alan left his position quite often when this wasn’t necessary, and his performance was already affected by fatigue. We fielded Marcos, who was more fixed there and more effective in transitions from defence to attack. In fact, defensive midfielders perform an important task: they ensure the passing game for switching wings or playing in between the thirds. We had Bolbat, Solomon, and Stepanenko at the right-hand side, and Alan Patrick, Ismaily, and Taison on the left-hand one. In those triangles, either Patrick or Stepanenko were responsible for changing flanks. We knew that this task would tire the players, and at some point we simply decided to field the fresh Marcos Antonio. The players had to both feed our attacks and help defensively, especially in midfield, where Manchester City are the strongest.
- Your predecessor promised to appear in the mask of Zorro in case of reaching the knockout phase. What extravagant act are you capable of in case of defeating City away?
- Of course, I won’t comment on the things that Paulo did. I would just be very happy that we’ve been through to the Champions League last 16. In life, I have always tried to keep calm and balanced emotions in my life. I'm not at that age when people get terribly upset or just jump with happiness. I would just experience great joy. Perhaps you won’t ask me about that, so I want to mention our fans myself. The stadium was packed with Shakhtar fans! They are our soul, our strength, we work every day to please them. We would love to leave the stadium as winners for our fans to be happy - we will try to do this in the future. I want to thank both those who were present at the stadium and those who supported us by watching the match on TV. Thank you very much!
The stadium was packed with Shakhtar fans! They are our soul, our strength, we work every day to please them. We would love to leave the stadium as winners for our fans to be happy - we will try to do this in the future. I want to thank both those who were present at the stadium and those who supported us by watching the match on TV. Thank you very much!
- Did the outcome of the match in Zagreb surprise you?
- Yes, on the one hand, this may surprise us. But not the victory of Dinamo, but the number of goals scored. It’s even good that this happened because after the draw I heard people say that Dinamo Zagreb are weak and will have no chance. While this night has proven the opposite. From the very beginning I said that we have a really tough group. Football is full of such premature predictions which shouldn’t be made at all. Every opponent should be respected. If you are in the Champions League, you are among the best. It’s not easy to get into this competition, plus anything can happen in football.
- Who is Shakhtar’s major competitor in the competition for the second spot?
- If the first spot, as it most often happens, goes to Manchester City, then our main competitors are Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta.
- Are you satisfied with the team manning, taking into account the fact that two forwards left the club at the end of summer? It turns out that you don’t particularly have anyone to strengthen your offence? Shakhtar bought two newcomers who are not fully ready: Vitao is not playing yet, and Konoplyanka isn’t in his best form for now.
- I was happy with our squad even before Vitao and Konoplyanka came, but with their appearance we got a little bit stronger. In the summer, for example, Blanco left us ... Nevertheless, I am satisfied with every player on the roster. The staffing is over now. It’s normal that after that kind of defeats, people immediately start looking for the things that might go wrong. However, it is worth reminding you that we are topping the league, showing great performance, and this time, we also tried to do that in the match against one of the best teams in the world.
- Yes, on the one hand, this may surprise us. But not the victory of Dinamo, but the number of goals scored. It’s even good that this happened because after the draw I heard people say that Dinamo Zagreb are weak and will have no chance. While this night has proven the opposite. From the very beginning I said that we have a really tough group. Football is full of such premature predictions which shouldn’t be made at all. Every opponent should be respected. If you are in the Champions League, you are among the best. It’s not easy to get into this competition, plus anything can happen in football.
- Who is Shakhtar’s major competitor in the competition for the second spot?
- If the first spot, as it most often happens, goes to Manchester City, then our main competitors are Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta.
- Are you satisfied with the team manning, taking into account the fact that two forwards left the club at the end of summer? It turns out that you don’t particularly have anyone to strengthen your offence? Shakhtar bought two newcomers who are not fully ready: Vitao is not playing yet, and Konoplyanka isn’t in his best form for now.
- I was happy with our squad even before Vitao and Konoplyanka came, but with their appearance we got a little bit stronger. In the summer, for example, Blanco left us ... Nevertheless, I am satisfied with every player on the roster. The staffing is over now. It’s normal that after that kind of defeats, people immediately start looking for the things that might go wrong. However, it is worth reminding you that we are topping the league, showing great performance, and this time, we also tried to do that in the match against one of the best teams in the world.