The goal added confidence
Thursday, October 6, 2022
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Shakhtar midfielder Oleksandr Zubkov talked about the away meet with Real Madrid, his scored goal and attitude for the home game
– Oleksandr, it was tough and intense match for your team. How can you rate the game?
– It was difficult. We all understood what opponent we were playing against. This is one of the best (if not the best) team in the world. We realized that we would give them the initiative sometimes and the plan was to meet them in the centre. Of course, 36 shots on our goal talk by themselves, but we had our chances even in such difficult game.
– Scoring against Real Madrid is not an everyday thing. Did you have the feeling that you could score?
– To tell the truth, Lassina Traore came to me during the dinner and said that he had a dream that I would score today. We joked a little bit, but it did come true. Sure, it feels great to score at such stadium against such team like Real Madrid. It would be twice as better if we had got points.
– In what mood did you appear for the second half and what did the coach tell during the break?
– Probably, we believed in ourselves a little bit more. And, of course, the task was to score the second goal.
– What was the most difficult period of this game?
– I think the first 25-30 minutes: there were many chances near our goal and it was a tough period. The opponent scored having the opportunity to increase the score, but my goal might have added some confidence to the team.
– It may be said that a return match vs Real Madrid will be played quite soon. What attitude do you have ahead of this match?
– We will fight until the end. Again, we understand what opponent we are to face, but even this match showed that they have weak points as well.
– It was difficult. We all understood what opponent we were playing against. This is one of the best (if not the best) team in the world. We realized that we would give them the initiative sometimes and the plan was to meet them in the centre. Of course, 36 shots on our goal talk by themselves, but we had our chances even in such difficult game.
– Scoring against Real Madrid is not an everyday thing. Did you have the feeling that you could score?
– To tell the truth, Lassina Traore came to me during the dinner and said that he had a dream that I would score today. We joked a little bit, but it did come true. Sure, it feels great to score at such stadium against such team like Real Madrid. It would be twice as better if we had got points.
– In what mood did you appear for the second half and what did the coach tell during the break?
– Probably, we believed in ourselves a little bit more. And, of course, the task was to score the second goal.
– What was the most difficult period of this game?
– I think the first 25-30 minutes: there were many chances near our goal and it was a tough period. The opponent scored having the opportunity to increase the score, but my goal might have added some confidence to the team.
– It may be said that a return match vs Real Madrid will be played quite soon. What attitude do you have ahead of this match?
– We will fight until the end. Again, we understand what opponent we are to face, but even this match showed that they have weak points as well.