Now Shakhtar’s training camp in Türkiye is gaining momentum. Team captain despite the intense work schedule Nikolay Matvienko took the time to give the site an exclusive interview Spor.ua.

In this interview, readers will learn who Shakhtar’s main rivals will be in the fight for the championship gold medal, what keywords Arda Turan says to his players, how far the Pitmen can go in the Conference League and, of course, what are the chances of the Ukrainian national team to advance to the World Cup.

– Nikolay, how would you evaluate your team’s performance in the first half of the season?

– In short, it could have been better (smiles). It depends on which side you look at it from. We now share first place with LNZ. Reached the Conference League play-offs. But on the other hand, they lost valuable points in the UPL and were eliminated from the Ukrainian Cup. Shakhtar’s goals are much higher.

– Before the season started, Arda Turan was the manager of your team. Did you know much about him as a football player?

– Of course I knew. This is a legend of European football. It is enough to say that he played for teams such as Galatasaray, Atletico and Barcelona. He played 100 times for the Turkish national team. This is a solid indicator. Moreover, I also knew Arda as a coach, because before moving to Shakhtar, he was the head coach of Eyüpspor, where Taras Stepanenko played. He talked a lot about Turan. I can definitely say that he is a great coach and an equally great person.

– Arda Turan is always emotional during matches…

– Because the mentor is completely in the game. He’s always on point, he’s an authority for us and he always supports his players. Even outside the football field. I had to contact a mentor more than once. The gentleman always says that he is always ready to help in case of problems.

– What keywords does the coach say to his players?

– Brazilian technique is good, but he always focuses on the fact that he wants to see aggressive football, where his team competes and everyone supports each other.

– Do any of the assistant coaches work with the defenders?

– There is no such thing specifically. But they probably have their own communications, who is more responsible to whom. However, it is very rare for us that defenders work separately.

– Are the players’ requirements significantly different from, for example, the requirements under Marino Pusic?

– Of course, there are some details, but there is little new that can be invented in modern football. Shakhtar has its own philosophy, which we always try to adhere to. Yes, every coach tries to bring something different, but the strategy does not change.

– How do foreign coaches and football players adapt to our realities when there is war in Ukraine?

“They probably worry like ordinary people when there is bombardment, but when they come here they understand what’s going on here.” This is their conscious choice. And they are also wonderful, true professionals.

– Is it strange for you that LNZ can offer such serious competition to Shakhtar?

– To be honest, few people expected to see the Cherkassy team at the top of the standings. But LNZ are great, they showed their potential and are well prepared physically. So it will be interesting in the spring.

– Historically, Shakhtar’s main rival is Dinamo. Did things become easier when the people of Kyiv began to stumble?

– Of course, it will be easier for us if our opponents lose points, this is a fact. However, now our championship has stabilized a little, so Shakhtar’s rival today is not just Dinamo. Every game is difficult in its own way. “Polesie”, “Kolos”, “Krivbass”, “Karpaty”, all competitors have their own plans. Our job was definitely not easy in the first half of the season.

– Is the 9-point difference between them and Dynamo a serious handicap for the Kievans?

– Yes, that’s a good tip, but Dynamo is Dynamo. This is a big club. They always set the same goals as Shakhtar; Winning every match and every tournament. I have no doubt that Dinamo will fight until the end in the second part of the championship. We certainly do not underestimate this opponent.

– So who will be Shakhtar’s main rival in the fight for the championship gold medal after the winter break?

– Our main rival is the next rival. Your victory over LNZ will not cost anything if you lose later, for example, to Poltava. Shakhtar’s goal is to win every round. Then it is guaranteed that we will become champions.

– By the way, did the LNZ match, in which Shakhtar lost with a score of 1:4, show the Pitmen’s worst performance?

– Yes. I would also like to mention the Conference League group round match against Legia.

– Actually, the match against the Poles should not have resulted in Shakhtar’s defeat.

– During the season, every team has ups and downs in the game, especially psychologically and physically. This was the period that coincided with our matches against LNZ and Legia. The Cherkassy team beat us on merit. There’s nothing else to add here. My subjective perspective is that we were powerless at that time. Maybe it’s because we started the season early and fatigue has accumulated somewhere.

– Which match of Shakhtar did you like?

– We have two matches to play against Beşiktaş in the Europa League qualifiers. And there were factors here. We prepared well in the training camp, the championship had not started yet, we did not need to travel much by bus, which is a serious factor in preparation for the competitions.

– Almost all experts unanimously say that Shakhtar is still looking for its best game, as the team is led by a new coach. What percent power do you think the Pitmen have right now?

– I won’t say the percentage, but I can definitely say there is potential. We have a lot of young players, especially attacking the Brazilians. Therefore, they can still add and add due to proper growth.

-What can you say about Shakhtar’s current European Cup campaign? After the matches against the same Besiktas, everyone was sure that the Donetsk team would not be able to escape from the Europa League group stage.

– I think we were a little unlucky in the match against Panathinaikos in the third qualifying round. This applies to the application of scoring chances. Additionally, some of our important players left the team due to injuries. One thing superimposed on another, hence the decided outcome in the football lottery.

– You mentioned injuries. Alisson was one of those taken to the infirmary. Do you support the idea that this Brazilian winger was the Pitmen’s best at the start of the season?

– I really liked the way he started the season. After all, Shakhtar doesn’t just buy football players. The player’s data is studied and then a conclusion is made about how useful this or that player will be for the team. In the Alisson case, everything came together. It’s just that every football player needs his own time to fully adapt to a new team.

– They now expect almost maximum results from Shakhtar in the Conference League. Is this possible?

– We believe in this. So why go out into the field? We also believe and will do our best to win the gold medal in the championship. In European competitions, everything needs to be done gradually and gradually move towards your goal, which is to reach at least the final of the tournament.

– At 1/8 Shakhtar has four potential rivals: KuPS, Shkendija, Lech and Samsunspor. Who wouldn’t you want to meet on the road?

– It’s hard to say. Probably with Polish Lech. They looked good in the group stage of the Conference League and the team is among the leaders in the championship, despite the eighth place. There is serious density there. Although I am sure that each of the future opponents poses a danger. You need to prepare very carefully for 1/8 matches because any mistake in the elimination matches can be fatal.

– Of course, as the captain, I cannot help but ask you about the Ukrainian national team that made it to the play-offs in the 2026 World Cup. What can you say about the future rival of the blue-yellows, the Swedish national team?

– In my opinion, this is the strongest team we can get. Right now everyone is focusing on the Swedes’ situation. But our meeting will take place in two months. Everything can change. Sweden has a very strong squad and many of their players represent elite European clubs. They, like us, set the goal of getting to the World Championship, so a very tough challenge awaits us.

For me, the poor performance of the Swedes in the qualifying tournament means nothing. Every team can do their best in a match, even if it is an outsider, and Sweden is one of the strong European teams, that’s for sure. For the Ukrainian national team, this will be a match of life, like all previous matches. After all, we understand that a war is going on in the country and every victory, even on the sports front, brings joy to Ukrainians in such a difficult period.

– But during the qualifying tournament, the Ukrainian team received a considerable amount of criticism?

– This is the job of experts and journalists. But I can say this; We never score when we go on the field. There is no point in saying that we are walking on the football field or that we do not want to win.

– It is difficult to consider the away match against Azerbaijan as a win for our team.

– From the outside it may seem like we have no desire to win. When a team enters the field, the task is not just to crush someone. The opponent is being studied, there is a strategy for the match. However, when the opponent closes down, there is no place to escape. We tried to move the ball quickly, looking for spaces where we could pass the ball, because the Azerbaijanis defended as a whole team again. Not as an excuse, I will say that the quality of the pitch in Baku did not allow us to bowl the ball quickly, so it looked like we were doing everything slowly. This is exactly what the opponent played. We really wanted to win. This doesn’t happen often in football, but it does happen. Yes, we scored a goal, but we should never forget that the opponent was trying to do his best. They held on throughout the game and managed to come forward in one of their rare counter-attacks.

I can also give an example from Shakhtar’s match against Swiss Servette in the Conference League qualifiers. We had a game plan but it rained so much we couldn’t see anything, the ball didn’t get rolling and the whole strategy fell apart, we had to come up with something on the fly. It’s a good thing that we managed to score the winning goal in extra time and not lead to a series of penalty shoot-outs again.

– How would you evaluate the performance of the Ukrainian national team in the qualifying tournament using the five-point system?

– I think that’s three. If we had beaten Azerbaijan, we would have been four people and there would have been five wins in the group (smiles).

– You participated in two European Championships. Isn’t it time to go to the World Championship?

– I really want to make one of my football dreams come true. May God grant everything goes well.

– You have won many trophies in your career. Is there another summit you dream of?

– Just to play in the World Championship, that’s one of them.