We haven’t won yet

- What’s your mood before tomorrow's encounter? What is the personnel situation in the team? We didn’t notice Stepanenko at today’s training.

- The atmosphere in our team is very good. If we count from the last Champions League game against Inter, we’ve kept all clean sheets in four games, we’ve stabilized our defensive third, which is important. We have scored four goals in the last two matches, which is also good news. Despite the fact that in the past games we did not display any super-aesthetic football, we displayed a good performance and achieved the result. We feel very confident, but this doesn’t make us complacent. We perfectly understand how important tomorrow's return game is. Stepanenko had a minor issue - we are trying to make him recover by the game, doing our utmost for him to be available.

- All coaches make this idle remark: "For me the most important match is the next one." And yet, you probably keep in mind this Sunday’s duel with Zorya. You have completed the task of reaching the next round for 90 percent in the first leg. The Sunday’s game seems to be more important now. Have you already decided whether you will give someone a rest before playing Zorya, or, conversely, field the combat-ready squad so that the players don’t lose their fitness?

- Now I’d like to briefly describe the recent developments to all the reporters. We had a month of vacation, then we started the training camps which lasted for about as long, then we had a couple of days off and returned to the competitive games. The players rediscover their top form by competing. This year, we’ve had very few competitive games for the moment - against Kolos, Maccabi and Rukh. The footballers feel really fresh. On the contrary, they need regular games. Now, unlike before, we’ve got five substitutions. The head coach can carry out some rotation during the game. Just imagine that I remove, for example, two players, that they will play 70 minutes. That is, 20 minutes in each meeting - and so it’ll happen in three matches in a row. That is, after three games, it turns out that the player has rested for an hour, that he’s got 60 minutes of playing time less than the rest. Unfortunately, many people, fans and reporters just look at the starting lineup, which is by no means the most important thing. There are no templates in football. You need to understand how much time the player spends on the field. It doesn't matter if he started or came on as a substitute. Second thing - we haven't won anything yet. Many people may say that we’ve already gone further, as you said, that 90 percent of the task has already been completed ... But according to the head coach of Shakhtar, we’ve won nothing yet. We must always respect the opponents and take the field to win. I started playing football 48 years ago, now I’m already 59. During this time, football has taught me that you should never rejoice prematurely, having some clear expectations. Nothing has happened yet. When the final whistle sounds, then there’ll be an opportunity to rejoice. I always tell my players to be very careful from start to finish. There are no perfect teams in the world. Everyone has got this atypical season: we can look at Barcelona, Real Madrid, Benfica, PSG ... It’s tough. Not all teams can finish the season at the top level, as we are used to seeing it. But I will never forget what we, what my players have already achieved. Respecting my players, the Shakhtar fans, the club's administration, I want to stress that we appear in every match to win it. For the encounter with Maccabi, I will field the strongest squad, which, in my opinion, is necessary. And then for the game against Zorya I’ll field the strongest ones again. In football, nothing is decided until the end of the match. And I want to add one more thing. We’ve just had blood tests taken for six of the most fielded players of the past year and the beginning of this year. All tests showed that their recovery is in full swing, that they’ve got no problems. Therefore, I will never listen to what the society says, but I will always think with my own head and make appropriate decisions. In no case will I do as everyone says. No, I will make my own decision and follow it. As a coach, I take absolutely all responsibility for the things that happen. If tomorrow we experience some problems with Shakhtar, I, the coach, will take responsibility. And if they appear in the match against Zorya - exactly the same will happen. I always need to make the best decision for the team first.

- This season, Junior Moraes has scored only three goals in 15 games. What’s the reason behind his regression? Is the footballer's coronavirus to blame for this? Lack of competition? Overall, are you satisfied with your attacking play?

- Junior works really hard and in a really dedicated manner. He is a professional who always devotes himself to his job every day, tries to fulfil every task set. I understand your question. I would like Moraes to score more goals, so that, basically, our team could score more and more goals. Despite this, we are the most prolific team in the Championship. This shows that our attacking football is very productive and is head and shoulders above all other teams in the Ukrainian league. Do not forget that the mission of the number nine, the striker, is not just scoring goals. That’s passing into zones, tackling, receiving long balls, changing the direction of pressure, challenging full-backs, and deliveries to flanks ... The attacker must perform a huge number of tasks. Not just finishing attacks. We again return to the template of everyone thinking that in football the striker exists only to score goals against the opposing sides. But this is not the case. We need to look at football through a slightly different lens. For example, Kryvtsov is a defender. But he doesn’t perform just one action of not letting the ball into our goal and protecting the goal. He is responsible for keeping the defence line tight, must win individual challenges both aerially and on the ground, he must have a great short pass, long pass, runs down the wing, shaping the lines ... Everyone on the field has multiple tasks. If we talk about the offensive personnel now, Dentinho and Viunnyk are injured, but we have Fernando and Moraes who share the playing time. They are great professionals. These footballers don't need any kind of pressure to work, to try and show their best. So I, the coach, do not need any outside pressure to be told that I must win, otherwise I will get slack, give up and do nothing. I myself perfectly understand the kind of tasks I am facing and how I should react and fulfil them. We want them to score more goals, but for now the situation is like this.

- Korniienko made his first full-match appearance after the injury, and in the end he had an unpleasant collision with the goalkeeper. Is Viktor ready to appear from the off?

- Almost all of our players are in excellent form, including Korniienko, to take the field and display some excellent football. Everyone is ready to play against Maccabi - the team who created enormous difficulties for us in the first leg. I am purposefully talking about Maccabi now: it seems to me that in this room the focus departs from the most important topic that needs to be discussed - tomorrow's clash. Almost all the guys have recovered, they feel great and, I hope, we will be ready for tomorrow's encounter.

- You said that you would field the strongest squad. Does it have a place for Yevhen Konoplyanka, talking about the starting XI?