This win is important for us
Friday, October 3, 2025
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Press conference of Shakhtar head coach Arda Turan after the UEFA Conference League match against Aberdeen (3-2)
– Good evening, everyone. We came here from Ukraine, where the war continues. Wars are happening all over the world. People and children are starving to death. And right now, the Sumud Flotilla is heading to Gaza. They are trying to become a symbol of hope. We don’t know what we can do on our side. Alone, we dream of stopping wars. And I would like to call on leaders who have the power to stop wars in the world to take real action and show initiative to stop the deaths of people and children. We must put an end to these wars. I cannot understand how they can happen in the modern world. It is impossible to comprehend. With all my heart and in my prayers, I stand with everyone going through the wars in Palestine, in Ukraine.
Regarding the game, we couldn’t start the match well. We were far from contact and one-on-one situations. And despite the opponents’ position in the league table, it is difficult to play against teams like Aberdeen, as in the Scottish Premiership they are among the leaders in challenges won and in physical attributes. They started the game with a defensive 5–2–3 formation, and their two attacking players were able to control our four in the build-up. Our solution was through the full-backs and holding midfielders. But because our eights were moving forward too early, we couldn’t find the right solutions. And their two sixes controlled our midfield very easily. The match continued like this for a long time. We had possession, yet despite this, we couldn’t achieve results or execute our solutions. Later, we managed to create more opportunities with our wingers going more open and full-backs more on the inside. With diagonal passes, we found our wingers, and the movement of our sixes improved our ability to find solutions. Playing in a stadium like this is difficult, and it’s hard to oppose a team that relies on long balls, set pieces and throw-ins. At the start, it wasn’t easy, but then, considering the wind as well, we had to adapt to the conditions because in football such difficult circumstances sometimes happen, and you need to be able to adjust – which we managed to do. We are a young team and this victory is very important for us. Winning against a club like Aberdeen, with its football culture and history, truly makes us very happy.
– A fantastic start to the campaign. What are your overall impressions of the Brazilians’ performance? Marlon Gomes was particularly influential. Your third goal had over 20 passes before you scored. Going forward, do you think that it's going to get a bit easier for you as a team in this competition? Or do you think that this is very much the pacemaker for how the rest of the campaign is going to go? You are among the six or seven main favourites, but still… You won, but how do you feel that the rest of it is going to go? (Andrew Todos, Zorya Londonsk)
– First of all, we have had similar matches before. For example, we scored goals after 30–50 passes within a single attack against Beşiktaş. Passing play is always important for us, but it is also crucial how those passes happen. We control the game, but we don’t like static passes; we aim for them to be accompanied by dribbling that eliminates the opponent. Regarding Marlon Gomes, he has an excellent playing profile and character traits. He is a great footballer, capable of performing in any position. His play today pleased me very much. I would also like to highlight Lucas Ferreira, who started in the line-up for the first time and scored a goal. That also makes us very happy. As for the favourite status in this tournament, it is part of Shakhtar’s culture – always staying competitive in Europe. At the same time, we are a young and new team, trying to learn at every level and gain experience. Therefore, I believe it is more logical to take everything step by step. Of course, the Conference League excites us greatly and our biggest dream here is to play matches with the word “final” in their names.
– Good evening, Arda. If we're talking about the philosophy of Shakhtar and the way that they play, that goal that Andrew was saying was a really good example of that – the third goal by Pedro Henrique. How much of the way that Shakhtar traditionally played attracted you to the club in the first place? Secondly, this evening, how difficult was it to play traditional Shakhtar football in those sort of conditions? (Andy Brassell, The Guardian)
– At the end of the first half, we had 70% possession, controlling the ball, but it didn’t reflect our philosophy because usually we aim to create solutions against the opponents’ pressing. What we were doing was ineffective, as we couldn’t have a free player with the ball to find the third man in the triangle. In the first half, we couldn’t implement our philosophy the way I wanted. When you play against an organised defence like that, it’s easier for the opponents to defend as our offensive players went early next to their central defenders, and it is easier to defend when you do so. We want to use dribbling when there is space to easily find a free player. We could go forward in the second half. We aim to act the same whether we are in the lead or behind, but at the same time, we need to stay realistic. For example, when the opponents use one-on-one play or 10-on-10 pressing, we have an option we call the long pass, not a long ball behind the defence. We have all types of plans, but why are they necessary? Because football is a game with a large share of improvisation, a one-on-one game, and we try to control it to the extent possible. If you ask whether it was easy today to implement our philosophy on the pitch – no, but I believe we managed to do it partially.
Regarding the game, we couldn’t start the match well. We were far from contact and one-on-one situations. And despite the opponents’ position in the league table, it is difficult to play against teams like Aberdeen, as in the Scottish Premiership they are among the leaders in challenges won and in physical attributes. They started the game with a defensive 5–2–3 formation, and their two attacking players were able to control our four in the build-up. Our solution was through the full-backs and holding midfielders. But because our eights were moving forward too early, we couldn’t find the right solutions. And their two sixes controlled our midfield very easily. The match continued like this for a long time. We had possession, yet despite this, we couldn’t achieve results or execute our solutions. Later, we managed to create more opportunities with our wingers going more open and full-backs more on the inside. With diagonal passes, we found our wingers, and the movement of our sixes improved our ability to find solutions. Playing in a stadium like this is difficult, and it’s hard to oppose a team that relies on long balls, set pieces and throw-ins. At the start, it wasn’t easy, but then, considering the wind as well, we had to adapt to the conditions because in football such difficult circumstances sometimes happen, and you need to be able to adjust – which we managed to do. We are a young team and this victory is very important for us. Winning against a club like Aberdeen, with its football culture and history, truly makes us very happy.
– A fantastic start to the campaign. What are your overall impressions of the Brazilians’ performance? Marlon Gomes was particularly influential. Your third goal had over 20 passes before you scored. Going forward, do you think that it's going to get a bit easier for you as a team in this competition? Or do you think that this is very much the pacemaker for how the rest of the campaign is going to go? You are among the six or seven main favourites, but still… You won, but how do you feel that the rest of it is going to go? (Andrew Todos, Zorya Londonsk)
– First of all, we have had similar matches before. For example, we scored goals after 30–50 passes within a single attack against Beşiktaş. Passing play is always important for us, but it is also crucial how those passes happen. We control the game, but we don’t like static passes; we aim for them to be accompanied by dribbling that eliminates the opponent. Regarding Marlon Gomes, he has an excellent playing profile and character traits. He is a great footballer, capable of performing in any position. His play today pleased me very much. I would also like to highlight Lucas Ferreira, who started in the line-up for the first time and scored a goal. That also makes us very happy. As for the favourite status in this tournament, it is part of Shakhtar’s culture – always staying competitive in Europe. At the same time, we are a young and new team, trying to learn at every level and gain experience. Therefore, I believe it is more logical to take everything step by step. Of course, the Conference League excites us greatly and our biggest dream here is to play matches with the word “final” in their names.
– Good evening, Arda. If we're talking about the philosophy of Shakhtar and the way that they play, that goal that Andrew was saying was a really good example of that – the third goal by Pedro Henrique. How much of the way that Shakhtar traditionally played attracted you to the club in the first place? Secondly, this evening, how difficult was it to play traditional Shakhtar football in those sort of conditions? (Andy Brassell, The Guardian)
– At the end of the first half, we had 70% possession, controlling the ball, but it didn’t reflect our philosophy because usually we aim to create solutions against the opponents’ pressing. What we were doing was ineffective, as we couldn’t have a free player with the ball to find the third man in the triangle. In the first half, we couldn’t implement our philosophy the way I wanted. When you play against an organised defence like that, it’s easier for the opponents to defend as our offensive players went early next to their central defenders, and it is easier to defend when you do so. We want to use dribbling when there is space to easily find a free player. We could go forward in the second half. We aim to act the same whether we are in the lead or behind, but at the same time, we need to stay realistic. For example, when the opponents use one-on-one play or 10-on-10 pressing, we have an option we call the long pass, not a long ball behind the defence. We have all types of plans, but why are they necessary? Because football is a game with a large share of improvisation, a one-on-one game, and we try to control it to the extent possible. If you ask whether it was easy today to implement our philosophy on the pitch – no, but I believe we managed to do it partially.