Sometimes you have to grind out victories
Friday, February 27, 2026
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Press conference of Shakhtar head coach Arda Turan after the UPL match against Veres (1-0)
– First of all, I have to say that the competition is becoming increasingly difficult with each round. We could see that clearly on the pitch today. I would like to congratulate Veres and their head coach on the work they’ve done – it’s a really high level of preparation, and they made the evening very difficult for us. We started the match slowly. In situations like that, you can run into problems if you don’t begin actively. That’s why we deliberately decided to change the midfield, gave Alisson the chance to return to the starting line-up on the right wing, and also brought back Kryskiv – players who had been sidelined with injuries for a long time and needed this opportunity to, as we say, feel the pitch again. Ocheretko had a minor issue during the winter training camp as well, so it was important to give him a chance to start today. We did this primarily out of concern for our players because a very demanding schedule awaits us: an away trip to Oleksandriia, a Conference League match, and then we return here to host Metalist 1925. Every one of my players is extremely important to me, I count on all of them. As for the game itself, the first half wasn’t ideal from our side, but I liked the second half much more. Isaque, who came on as a substitute, strengthened us significantly. We also made good use of one-on-one situations, played through triangles, attacked the half-spaces, I was far more satisfied in these aspects. As for Traore, he came off the bench again today, and I can say that over the past two weeks he’s been our Harry Potter. We also brought on Nazaryna later – he is our constant weapon when it comes to set pieces. The way he delivers them and how much quality he gives us from corners, free-kicks and other dead-ball situations is obvious to everyone. To sum up the evening, I can say that a truly difficult road lies ahead of us. Sometimes victories come like this, sometimes you have to grind them out, but that’s how titles are won. I want to congratulate my players, the coaching staff and everyone involved in this victory. Of course, we’d all like to win 3-0 or 4-0, but sometimes that’s not possible. You have to accept that and, at times, be satisfied with these modest wins.
– Prosper Obah made his debut today on the left, although we’re used to seeing him on the right. How would you assess his performance in that position?
– As for Prosper’s performance, I’m completely satisfied with how he showed himself in his debut match for Shakhtar. I really liked his work on the ball, his body language and his overall positioning on the pitch. I’m convinced that when you play your first match for such a big club as Shakhtar, you’re under significant pressure, and he handled it very well, adding quality to our play. I can recall my own experience. I’ve left many things behind since I hung up my boots, but I clearly remember my time at Barcelona. When I first found myself in a system built on active player interaction through triangles, I genuinely struggled at the beginning. That’s why I understand that any player who joins a new system needs time to adapt to its demands. For some, it may take a few days; for others, three months – it’s an individual process. However, I’m convinced that with all the qualities he has, Prosper Obah will fit perfectly into the overall picture of our football.
– Mister, last time you said that at half-time you asked the team to play more street football. Was it the same today?
– To be honest, I don’t really like sharing such dressing-room moments, but at your request I’ll go a little deeper. I can point to one key difference: after the first half of the previous match I was very aggressive in the dressing room, whereas today I was calm and explained to the team the aspects that concerned me. Yes, I understand that the game can be played at a slightly different tempo in certain phases, especially given the fact that we had several players on the pitch who had only just returned from injuries, so they may have lacked optimal physical condition. So, if we compare the two situations, I was far more emotional then. That said, I always emphasise that we are brothers, we are friends, I’m not only their coach. If they need help, they can always rely on me. I don’t want the relationship to exist solely in the “player–coach” format. On the other hand, there are moments when I also have to provide that emotion, to push them at the most important and decisive moments. Indeed, when you think about this match-up beforehand, it’s hard to imagine how, as a head coach, you wouldn’t start a forward who scored three goals in the previous game. It seems illogical. However, we spoke directly with Lassina Traore about the upcoming travel (and we have a lot of away trips ahead because every match this season is now taking on decisive importance), and from a purely technical standpoint I couldn’t afford to lose him and be left with just one forward up front. So it was a conscious decision. We discussed it, and he accepted it calmly. I’m very pleased that he then came onto the pitch and made his contribution to our victory.
– How would you assess our attacking play today: plenty of chances but only one goal? Is this a question for the attacking players or credit to Veres’ goalkeeper? Because it felt like he played the match of his life.
– I have already said this, but I want once again to congratulate our opponents and their head coach on the excellent work they did today and on the very high-quality preparation for this game. There are too many factors that can affect imperfect finishing, including the pitch condition, which I already pointed out after the previous match. So sometimes situations like this do happen. In any case, I agree with you: you do not want to gain experience and analyse mistakes while dropping points. That is why I’m very pleased that in these two matches we managed to take the maximum. At the same time, we can draw useful conclusions. I can assure you that after the previous game against Karpaty, my players went through a 50-minute video analysis and detailed review of the mistakes we made in that match. Perhaps it can be summed up like this: we enter the final third quite easily and get into the opponents’ penalty area, but at the same time we lose these moments too easily without squeezing the maximum out of them. So yes, I fully agree with you, we need to work on improving our finishing. I’m also confident that as the overall level of preparation of our players grows and their individual qualities improve, the proportion of chances we convert will increase accordingly.
– What is the main message this match sends to your team ahead of the next stage of the season?`
– In fact, this game sends us a message that I was already aware of, but it is also a very good opportunity to demonstrate it to my lads: when you are fighting for the highest objectives and the biggest trophies, you sometimes have to suffer. There is never an easy path to trophies, so we must be ready for the fact that sometimes we will need to grind out victories, just as we did today.
– Last time you asked me about the Olympic Games. The match was attended by Ukrainian Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych. Are you familiar with his Olympic story? Also, today is Valerii Bondar’s birthday. He scored the winning goal and gave himself such a present?
– Yes, of course, I’m familiar with Heraskevych’s story. I’m convinced that when you have the opportunity to defend the honour of your country, you must always do so, and that is exactly what he has done. Without any doubt, he is a great source of inspiration and pride, and I can only applaud his actions.
As for Valerii Bondar’s birthday and the fact that he managed to score today, I always emphasise to my defenders, not only the full-backs but also the centre-backs, that defenders score goals as well. They should look for opportunities even in situations that may seem non-obvious. In fact, yesterday I spoke to him about this and, half-jokingly, said it would be great if he could give both himself and us such a birthday present. To some extent, I’m still shocked that it actually came true.
And finally, I would also like to point out that today is the anniversary of my marriage. My beloved wife is the other half of my life. I’m extremely grateful that she is in my life, she is the mother of my children and I will love her forever.
– Prosper Obah made his debut today on the left, although we’re used to seeing him on the right. How would you assess his performance in that position?
– As for Prosper’s performance, I’m completely satisfied with how he showed himself in his debut match for Shakhtar. I really liked his work on the ball, his body language and his overall positioning on the pitch. I’m convinced that when you play your first match for such a big club as Shakhtar, you’re under significant pressure, and he handled it very well, adding quality to our play. I can recall my own experience. I’ve left many things behind since I hung up my boots, but I clearly remember my time at Barcelona. When I first found myself in a system built on active player interaction through triangles, I genuinely struggled at the beginning. That’s why I understand that any player who joins a new system needs time to adapt to its demands. For some, it may take a few days; for others, three months – it’s an individual process. However, I’m convinced that with all the qualities he has, Prosper Obah will fit perfectly into the overall picture of our football.
– Mister, last time you said that at half-time you asked the team to play more street football. Was it the same today?
– To be honest, I don’t really like sharing such dressing-room moments, but at your request I’ll go a little deeper. I can point to one key difference: after the first half of the previous match I was very aggressive in the dressing room, whereas today I was calm and explained to the team the aspects that concerned me. Yes, I understand that the game can be played at a slightly different tempo in certain phases, especially given the fact that we had several players on the pitch who had only just returned from injuries, so they may have lacked optimal physical condition. So, if we compare the two situations, I was far more emotional then. That said, I always emphasise that we are brothers, we are friends, I’m not only their coach. If they need help, they can always rely on me. I don’t want the relationship to exist solely in the “player–coach” format. On the other hand, there are moments when I also have to provide that emotion, to push them at the most important and decisive moments. Indeed, when you think about this match-up beforehand, it’s hard to imagine how, as a head coach, you wouldn’t start a forward who scored three goals in the previous game. It seems illogical. However, we spoke directly with Lassina Traore about the upcoming travel (and we have a lot of away trips ahead because every match this season is now taking on decisive importance), and from a purely technical standpoint I couldn’t afford to lose him and be left with just one forward up front. So it was a conscious decision. We discussed it, and he accepted it calmly. I’m very pleased that he then came onto the pitch and made his contribution to our victory.
– How would you assess our attacking play today: plenty of chances but only one goal? Is this a question for the attacking players or credit to Veres’ goalkeeper? Because it felt like he played the match of his life.
– I have already said this, but I want once again to congratulate our opponents and their head coach on the excellent work they did today and on the very high-quality preparation for this game. There are too many factors that can affect imperfect finishing, including the pitch condition, which I already pointed out after the previous match. So sometimes situations like this do happen. In any case, I agree with you: you do not want to gain experience and analyse mistakes while dropping points. That is why I’m very pleased that in these two matches we managed to take the maximum. At the same time, we can draw useful conclusions. I can assure you that after the previous game against Karpaty, my players went through a 50-minute video analysis and detailed review of the mistakes we made in that match. Perhaps it can be summed up like this: we enter the final third quite easily and get into the opponents’ penalty area, but at the same time we lose these moments too easily without squeezing the maximum out of them. So yes, I fully agree with you, we need to work on improving our finishing. I’m also confident that as the overall level of preparation of our players grows and their individual qualities improve, the proportion of chances we convert will increase accordingly.
– What is the main message this match sends to your team ahead of the next stage of the season?`
– In fact, this game sends us a message that I was already aware of, but it is also a very good opportunity to demonstrate it to my lads: when you are fighting for the highest objectives and the biggest trophies, you sometimes have to suffer. There is never an easy path to trophies, so we must be ready for the fact that sometimes we will need to grind out victories, just as we did today.
– Last time you asked me about the Olympic Games. The match was attended by Ukrainian Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych. Are you familiar with his Olympic story? Also, today is Valerii Bondar’s birthday. He scored the winning goal and gave himself such a present?
– Yes, of course, I’m familiar with Heraskevych’s story. I’m convinced that when you have the opportunity to defend the honour of your country, you must always do so, and that is exactly what he has done. Without any doubt, he is a great source of inspiration and pride, and I can only applaud his actions.
As for Valerii Bondar’s birthday and the fact that he managed to score today, I always emphasise to my defenders, not only the full-backs but also the centre-backs, that defenders score goals as well. They should look for opportunities even in situations that may seem non-obvious. In fact, yesterday I spoke to him about this and, half-jokingly, said it would be great if he could give both himself and us such a birthday present. To some extent, I’m still shocked that it actually came true.
And finally, I would also like to point out that today is the anniversary of my marriage. My beloved wife is the other half of my life. I’m extremely grateful that she is in my life, she is the mother of my children and I will love her forever.