Shakhtar has no reserve team

- Luis, congrats on the win! Are you happy now?

- Of course I'm happy! I am happy, first of all, for my team. The coach's mission is to make others happy. Well, also to be happy, but above all - to make others happy: fans, administration, players. That’s what I feel now. I’ve got a sense of accomplishment. During the match we worked really and really hard, just like in the last days, to be in the best form. And we worked in a very tough atmosphere. Just for you to understand: on the day of departure - yesterday morning - we were left without two players who, basically, were on the list already. That’s how we lived, reacting to what every day brings us due to the pandemic. And knowing that all those who were fine had that victorious spirit is just fantastic for me.

- I really wouldn’t like the Ukrainian press to call it a victory of Shakhtar's reserve team in Madrid, but they are already doing it. Therefore, this question is addressed to you specially for them: can you name at least one benchwarmer in this squad? Even Dentinho has made his third appearance this season, Maycon has appeared four times. We can’t find a single benchwarmer in the supposedly reserve team who won today.

- Shakhtar have no reserve team. Neither the first team. We have a list of footballers who work every day with great ambition, great dedication, with absolutely everyone preparing to play. Hadn’t everyone prepared, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this great victory today. The guys were really determined - they were a very close-knit team. There are no footballers at Shakhtar who play or do not play. A team always approach the match! Last season, we became the champions of Ukraine 23 points clear of the second spot and reached the semi-finals in the Europa League. We were able to do that as a team. And today, just as a team, we claimed a great victory. I want to congratulate everyone working at Shakhtar, the entire Shakhtar family, and I want to thank them for all the support they provide us with, going through this difficult moment for the club!

- Korniienko acted very well in the first-goal situation, he beat some Real Madrid stars. What can you say about the players who made their first Champions League appearance today?

- I want to say the following. Today, as always at Shakhtar, there are no individual names who come out to play, but there is a team. We managed to defeat Real only as a team. Not because of one or the other, not because one was better and the other was worse. Nope, all the guys perfectly well fulfilled the strategy for the match! We marked the flanks and midfield very well. Thanks to Dentinho's play, we were also able to use the spaces he opened, with Tete and Solomon moving in there. And this strategy developed thanks to the team. This led us to victory. Korniienko could be great throughout the match, but had the team operated wrongly, we wouldn’t have won it. I want to congratulate the whole team on our well-knit performance today.

- Last season, Shakhtar made a big splash in the away match against Manchester City when you lost a large number of key players. Today the situation is exactly the same, even much worse - and again it was sensational, a very confident defensive play, the result through teamwork. What’s behind such coincidences?

- The team not only managed to achieve a 1-1 result vs City and a 3-2 outcome vs Real Madrid today. We also defeated Atalanta ... The team, in principle, achieved good results last season. The same happened today. Either with the guys who played more, or with some others - with everyone who works on a daily basis! And I’m not going to divide them and consider someone as the starting XI, the regulars, and others as substitutes. I want to repeat that last season we achieved a 23-point lead over the second-spot side and reached the Europa League semi-finals. The whole team have been working very well and everyone is ready to play. Explaining today's victory is equal to talking about the focus, rigour, discipline and ambitions of our players in the last match. This is the only way to beat Madrid. Otherwise it wouldn’t have worked. Real Madrid are a strongest, fantastic team with super-experienced footballers and coach. As I said, I can explain our victory by our focus, discipline and ambition.

- Before the game, we talked a lot about your press conference. People are interested whether your mood, your speech, even some anger with which you tried to cause respect from Spanish reporters so that they also know Shakhtar ... I think they will definitely remember Shakhtar after this match, and when you arrive next time, the most questions will be about you. Did you give that emotional press conference before the match on purpose? Did you want to give your team a boost?

- What I least accept in life is a lack of respect. There should be a lot more respect. Unfortunately, as I said, even the coronavirus hasn't taught people how fragile everything is. In this world at the moment there’s a continuous attempt by the people of power to crush, attack and override the weaker ones. While respect is what should govern people. When there’s a Champions League match between Real and Shakhtar, and the most discussed game is Cadiz vs Real ... Probably, this eloquently implies the respect for Shakhtar which was lacking. My answer had nothing to do with Real Madrid. Real Madrid are a powerful team, one of the best in the world who we respect. They will always be role models in terms of the organization and functioning of the club. Yesterday I felt a lack of respect due to the fact that Zidane was not asked even once about Shakhtar, neither about the strategy for the upcoming game against Shakhtar! Actions are much more important than words. Someone might think that I am saying this because we won. No, yesterday it was still questionable, but today Real Madrid might have crushed us by three, four, five goals. But I want to repeat what I said: respect should rule people in this world, and nothing else.

- What did you say to the players before the game? How did you fire them up? Perhaps you have shown a movie about Muhammad Ali? Today Shakhtar floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.

- Trubin is a national team player. Bondar is a national team player. Dodo is a national team player. Khocholava is a national team player. Korniienko, Maycon, Marlos, Marcos Antonio, Tete and Solomon are national team players. Many people, probably, were inattentive, they did not appreciate Shakhtar properly. Those are very skilled players, those are the guys who have been working for the whole week, and they are ambitious. We won today. They didn't need to be fired up. Real Madrid dominated possession, but through the quality of our players we formed a very good team who managed to achieve a positive result.

- This is a historic victory! Yesterday you asked me: What’s the situation at Real Madrid? Now Madrid have already lost two matches, not one. Do you still think that Real aren’t experiencing any problems?