Shakhtar’s manager Igor Jovichevich – About the upcoming match with Leipzig and its importance.

– Before the match, Anatoliy Trubin said that the current Shakhtar is different from the one in the summer training camp. What caused such changes that are most common in development?

“People also change throughout their lives. If a person has the ambition to progress, he also works on the football field. I believe that people are necessary to achieve high goals – this is even more important than just football players, the main thing is people. When there are difficult matches, when the team faces difficulties, only the staff decides everything. You need to have skill at this level and all my players have it. Talent is multiplied by personalities and that means achieving the lofty goals we’ve set now. Three and a half months ago, no one gave two percent to the fact that we would have it in our pocket before the Europa League round 6 and we were going to fight for the 1/8 final of the Champions League. We are building a team and there is a reserve for a good project. It gives and gives the spirit that we can win in any game and with any opponent. I have said many times that the first game against Leipzig was a turning point for our team. It was the first European Cup match and we didn’t know how good we were, neither did the opponent. Maneuvers, resources, system, playstyle have always been preserved in every game we added with confidence. We will try to show our spirit in tomorrow’s match to make the impossible possible. Now, if anyone can do it, it’s us. I don’t like to highlight one person’s progress, for me the whole team has progressed. You – journalists and fans – can determine by emotion who is going more and who is less. Someone reflects his skills on goals, someone – in the game with the ball, someone – in assists. Defenders have the task of stopping the opponent’s attack, midfielders must set the pace and rhythm of the game, and someone makes the difference in offense so that through goals it is shown that the team can achieve a result. If you’re playing for a team, it will always help you shoot. Today Mudrik, tomorrow – Sudakov, then – Zubkov, but we are a team where everyone fights together.

– After the first game, Leipzig changed their head coach. How would you evaluate the team’s matches under the current coach and what do you expect from the meeting tomorrow?

“I personally take it as a challenge. Before every face-to-face match, I look at the characteristics of the opponent’s coach, look at his playing style and try to understand what he has to offer. Now we are talking about a very good coach. Marco Rose is a top manager, he has been showing his quality at a high level for a long time. Shakhtar fans cannot forget the two-year battle with Borussia Mönchengladbach and the result. Their teams play very aggressively and intensely, but now the game schema has changed a bit. The game system brings problems with it, but I think we will manage tomorrow and show a good game. Sometimes even perfection is not enough, but playing for the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, each of us must be at such a level that it becomes unforgettable. I repeat: no one even thought we could reach the Europa League, but now we already have it in our pockets. You want the dream to come true, but if it comes from the heart, it’s not even a dream because you want it so badly that it will come true.

– What is the staff situation in the team? Will the Leipzig match be the most important match in your career?

– There has never been such a match in our career where we will have the chance to reach the 1/8 finals in the Champions League. Personally, I have never felt such intensity and everything is the same except for some players. That ambition and sometimes the uncertainty of the moment will push you forward. We’ve done a lot of work and are no longer satisfied with what we have. In the Bundesliga, 95 minutes were left with a very good team that collected 16 points out of 18 in the last matches, which showed good and intense football by beating Real Madrid and its rivals. Nkunku, Werner, Forsberg – they are all performing at a very good level, so we will have a super challenge tomorrow. In football, the favorites don’t always win, but it’s true that we have a lot of injuries. Shved and Zubkov are key players in our team and our game model. But I think their loss is worthwhile and will be maximally replaced by others. I believe in the team and a positive outcome.

– Is your team ready to play a trick in the second leg against Leipzig?

– The first to score does not always win. A team wins if it matches all four segments of football and dominates all 95 minutes. You can’t win in 15 minutes – you have to stick to the plan and believe in winning until the end. If we want to reach the 1/8 final of the Champions League, we only need one victory tomorrow and Leipzig will be content with a draw. Sometimes such alignment for an opponent is psychological pressure, because not everyone can play for a draw. A goal can make a difference for us and put everything in order and change the game through energy and all inclusive. That’s what makes football interesting, I repeat: Shakhtar doesn’t need to play the first point to win the game. Our first game against Leipzig proves it, because we scored four goals in counter attacks, where we had 39 percent of the ball, but it could have been even more. It was the same at Real Madrid: we had 41 percent of the ball and it looked like we had 60 percent of everything. The match was going on, we were getting rid of Real Madrid’s defensive pressure. I want to see a team reading the game. When it is necessary to hold on, the defense must act compactly. Leipzig forces you to defend compactly because if you go under pressure you will stretch the lines. You see who we’re playing against. Nkunku and Werner are worth 100 million each, and it would be fatal for us to include them. We have to be on the ball, which made us think about reaching the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. We should not deviate from our style, but we should be smart and read well the moments when you need to catch the ball. You can only win if you can read the game.

– There are many young and talented players in your team.

“We need such individuals to be successful. All challenges motivate us to get better and get on the field. This is our first experience and we are trying to be spiritually strong and use our talents. First of all, we play for Ukraine and for it. We are showing that we can play in every game. No one believed us before, and that’s why I want to make everything impossible.

– Before the previous Champions League matches, Shakhtar’s matches in the UPL were postponed. This time the team had a tough match with Oleksandriya. How does this affect Leipzig preparations?

– In the last lap, Oleksandriya and I were in the same conditions, so the airstrike had the same effect on us and we will not make excuses. We have to draw conclusions to win the next matches. Maybe the anxiety did us good because we re-entered the game and evened the match. We had enough chances before they were removed but then the team had to show character. Oleksandriya is a good team and we have to accept that. Personally, I can say for myself that no one wants to experience anxiety because you don’t know what will happen next. There is uncertainty and now you think something might go wrong, at the same time you have thoughts in your head about tactics and how to beat the opponent. Like Ukrainian soldiers, all Ukrainian teams are now heroes. We are playing and fighting on Ukrainian soil. People fighting for our freedom are fans of our teams. All representatives of the country support each other in European cups and I will feel the support of the whole country in the match tomorrow, the same will happen in the Dnipro-1 match. I would like all teams to win more and score points in a common piggy bank. It is a pity that Dynamo failed to produce results, but when Dynamo plays, we should all cheer for them.

Tired of constantly moving? How does Shakhtar’s preparations for European Cup matches look like?

– Moving is of course very tiring because you don’t have time for anything. Representatives of other teams have free time, but you have a constant routine, and this psychological factor is somewhat depressing. Tomorrow’s game will be decisive, but then we have five more games to play. Tomorrow we will try to fight and show our best. In connection with movement, there is no balance between physical and mental. That’s the case for us, but we will fight no matter what.”

The match will be played in Warsaw on Wednesday. It starts at 19:45 Kyiv time.