We’re ready for every opponent
Friday, February 28, 2020
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Shakhtar manager Luis Castro reflects on reaching the Europa League Round of 16 and the upcoming draw
- Luis, in the first half the team made many mistakes. What’s the reason for that? How did you change the game after the break?
- In the first half, we were just a terrible team, completely unable to control the game, not succeeding offensively and defensively. We couldn't control neither the fast attacks of Benfica, their deliveries, nor their passage into the zone. The opponents were always in the last third, pressing us to the penalty area, and it was happening throughout the first half. During the break, we managed to adjust the positioning of certain players. In the second half, we managed to carry out some positional attacks, to neutralize the most influential Benfica players who caused us the most problems before the break, and everything turned out well: we scored goals, reacted to their attacks, defended well and always attacked together and more compactly. To differ from the first half when Benfica pressed us to the penalty area, we spent almost the entire second half in the opponents’ half, which is important for us. So our team in two halves had two different faces. Based on our second-half performance, we deserved to claim a positive result.
- Before the match, you said that we might expect a good atmosphere in the stadium and on the field, with both teams having chances to make it further. Is it “tastier” to achieve the result when the plot remains until the last minute?
- Yes. When you experience such difficulties as we did in the first half, success based on the second-half performance is even more pleasant. And yet, the Round of 32 tie consisted of four halves. Someone only remembers the second match, completely forgetting the first leg. Let's discuss everything by halves. In the first half in Kharkiv, we performed much better than Benfica, in the second too. The first half in Lisbon – we produced a poor performance, in the second we did much better. It turns out that in terms of halves we won with a score of 3-1. Many people spoke of the Benfica crisis. Tell me, what kind of crisis are we talking about when the team showed that kind of competent football in the first half? Credit for the second half already goes to us. Thanks to our players, we managed to neutralise the role of the major Benfica players and achieve a well-deserved result. But I want to repeat once again that we played against the giants who are worthy to play in any competition. Benfica are really strong opponents.
- Please comment on the fact that four Portuguese clubs were knocked out of the Europa League. Doesn’t this make you, as a Portuguese, worry?
- It frustrates me as a Portuguese that three out of four teams are out of European competitions now. And not because the fourth is Benfica, but because I am the coach of another club. The success of my team will always be foremost for me, no matter what country I am in. Why were the clubs knocked out? It’s difficult to say, I don’t yet have data on those matches. Let me leave this for you as you are daily involved in the football life of Portugal, unlike me.
- What’s the secret of your success? What made Shakhtar able to go further?
- In football, there are four important factors. There are technique, tactic, fitness, but I can say that mentality has now helped our players react, accept all the information that was passed to them by the coaching staff during the break, and turn the outcome in their favour. We were 1-2 behind, but could be more goals behind based on football we displayed. It was important to correctly convey the information to the guys so that they could respond timely and show some completely different football. And so it happened in the second half.
- Perhaps I can pretty accurately articulate the opinion of the fans regarding the club they would want Shakhtar to play in the next round - that’s Roma. And who would you like to meet?
- I don’t know which clubs have passed. We ourselves didn’t yet know that we would go further, so we didn’t quite study this issue. Now, we’ll have time for that. At the draw we’ll see who we get. I’ve got no particular preferences. But let's analyze this season: who did we play? You well remember the matches against Atalanta at San Siro, against Manchester City in Manchester, against Dinamo in Zagreb, when we were losing 1-3 in the 90+3 minute, ultimately finishing it 3-3. Nothing scares us at all now, we are ready for every opponent. We can work responsibly before any game, respecting the opponent. If my team managed to react like that after such a first half, we can react to any opponent then.
- You talked about your players’ mental side. Did the Benfica players have that kind of mental issue after they had conceded the second goal?
- All teams are made up of living beings. Of course, Benfica got upset. And at the score of 3-3, we were already very well ahead of the opponents. Someone thinks that football players are robots without hearts and emotions, that they can’t lower their heads. Everyone gets upset. But the key was not that, but the fact that they could not react in the way we did after the first half. In the second half, we felt very comfortable, we positioned correctly, did not give Benfica any zones, which allowed us to get ahead of our opponents. We felt more comfortable, while Benfica, losing, were forced to rush, carry out attacks as quickly as possible and recoup, that’s why they lost so many balls. But it was necessary to hurry up, and that’s absolutely normal. If the same thing was happening to my team, it would be very difficult to keep my head cool. The emotional component is very important in this case. The final result is well-deserved for us, which makes me very happy. Let's see what lies ahead. Before leaving this room, I want to thank everyone for the reception in Portugal. It was very nice to be back in my country. Thank you very much! Kyiv is a five-and-a-half-hour-flight away from here. I want to thank all the fans who were present at the stadium - at the crucial moments we felt their support.
- In the first half, we were just a terrible team, completely unable to control the game, not succeeding offensively and defensively. We couldn't control neither the fast attacks of Benfica, their deliveries, nor their passage into the zone. The opponents were always in the last third, pressing us to the penalty area, and it was happening throughout the first half. During the break, we managed to adjust the positioning of certain players. In the second half, we managed to carry out some positional attacks, to neutralize the most influential Benfica players who caused us the most problems before the break, and everything turned out well: we scored goals, reacted to their attacks, defended well and always attacked together and more compactly. To differ from the first half when Benfica pressed us to the penalty area, we spent almost the entire second half in the opponents’ half, which is important for us. So our team in two halves had two different faces. Based on our second-half performance, we deserved to claim a positive result.
- Before the match, you said that we might expect a good atmosphere in the stadium and on the field, with both teams having chances to make it further. Is it “tastier” to achieve the result when the plot remains until the last minute?
- Yes. When you experience such difficulties as we did in the first half, success based on the second-half performance is even more pleasant. And yet, the Round of 32 tie consisted of four halves. Someone only remembers the second match, completely forgetting the first leg. Let's discuss everything by halves. In the first half in Kharkiv, we performed much better than Benfica, in the second too. The first half in Lisbon – we produced a poor performance, in the second we did much better. It turns out that in terms of halves we won with a score of 3-1. Many people spoke of the Benfica crisis. Tell me, what kind of crisis are we talking about when the team showed that kind of competent football in the first half? Credit for the second half already goes to us. Thanks to our players, we managed to neutralise the role of the major Benfica players and achieve a well-deserved result. But I want to repeat once again that we played against the giants who are worthy to play in any competition. Benfica are really strong opponents.
- Please comment on the fact that four Portuguese clubs were knocked out of the Europa League. Doesn’t this make you, as a Portuguese, worry?
- It frustrates me as a Portuguese that three out of four teams are out of European competitions now. And not because the fourth is Benfica, but because I am the coach of another club. The success of my team will always be foremost for me, no matter what country I am in. Why were the clubs knocked out? It’s difficult to say, I don’t yet have data on those matches. Let me leave this for you as you are daily involved in the football life of Portugal, unlike me.
- What’s the secret of your success? What made Shakhtar able to go further?
- In football, there are four important factors. There are technique, tactic, fitness, but I can say that mentality has now helped our players react, accept all the information that was passed to them by the coaching staff during the break, and turn the outcome in their favour. We were 1-2 behind, but could be more goals behind based on football we displayed. It was important to correctly convey the information to the guys so that they could respond timely and show some completely different football. And so it happened in the second half.
- Perhaps I can pretty accurately articulate the opinion of the fans regarding the club they would want Shakhtar to play in the next round - that’s Roma. And who would you like to meet?
- I don’t know which clubs have passed. We ourselves didn’t yet know that we would go further, so we didn’t quite study this issue. Now, we’ll have time for that. At the draw we’ll see who we get. I’ve got no particular preferences. But let's analyze this season: who did we play? You well remember the matches against Atalanta at San Siro, against Manchester City in Manchester, against Dinamo in Zagreb, when we were losing 1-3 in the 90+3 minute, ultimately finishing it 3-3. Nothing scares us at all now, we are ready for every opponent. We can work responsibly before any game, respecting the opponent. If my team managed to react like that after such a first half, we can react to any opponent then.
- You talked about your players’ mental side. Did the Benfica players have that kind of mental issue after they had conceded the second goal?
- All teams are made up of living beings. Of course, Benfica got upset. And at the score of 3-3, we were already very well ahead of the opponents. Someone thinks that football players are robots without hearts and emotions, that they can’t lower their heads. Everyone gets upset. But the key was not that, but the fact that they could not react in the way we did after the first half. In the second half, we felt very comfortable, we positioned correctly, did not give Benfica any zones, which allowed us to get ahead of our opponents. We felt more comfortable, while Benfica, losing, were forced to rush, carry out attacks as quickly as possible and recoup, that’s why they lost so many balls. But it was necessary to hurry up, and that’s absolutely normal. If the same thing was happening to my team, it would be very difficult to keep my head cool. The emotional component is very important in this case. The final result is well-deserved for us, which makes me very happy. Let's see what lies ahead. Before leaving this room, I want to thank everyone for the reception in Portugal. It was very nice to be back in my country. Thank you very much! Kyiv is a five-and-a-half-hour-flight away from here. I want to thank all the fans who were present at the stadium - at the crucial moments we felt their support.