VAN LEUWEN: “Porto has similar thoughts to my own about football”

Shakhtar’s coach Patrick van Leeuwen He answered journalists’ questions before the Champions League match against Porto, which will be played on September 19 at 22:00 in Hamburg, Germany.

– Hamburg will be the fifth city where Shakhtar, who left Donetsk due to war in 2014, will play in European cups. Want to know your thoughts on the matches in Hamburg and also what you expect from moving to this city?

– First of all, I think the club decided to play here according to the possibilities. We must take into account that last year the European Cup matches were played in Warsaw and this season Legia Warsaw also qualified for the European Cup, so we will have two teams playing in Europe and this may reduce people’s interest in the matches. After this, the club noticed that there was interest in international matches in Hamburg. Therefore, if we focus on ticket sales, this was a very correct decision. We will face very good teams here. We are happy with this move, the quality of the stadium and everything else.

– Many defenders are missing – Chigrinsky, Matvienko, Bondar. Does this make things more difficult for you?

– Some defenders were out of action a few weeks ago and in my opinion the other players did a good job in their positions during this time. We won’t be enough for them, but we have enough quality players to continue progressing.

– One more question about the players, namely the goalkeepers. How does Dmitry Riznyk feel after the tragedy that befell his brother? Do you know who will play tomorrow?

– Dmitry came with the team, so everything is fine with him.

– Congratulations from Georgia. Tomorrow will be the first match of Georgiy Gocholeishvili, who has been playing for Shakhtar for six months, and the new player Irakli Azarov. National team matches were quite tough. How do they feel now? What can you say about them and how important are they to the team?

– First of all, they both feel good. It is a great pleasure to work with them, I have known them since the beginning of the season. In these few weeks, they were recruited not only to their national team, but also to many Ukrainian players from our team. We take care of everyone. We have high hopes for them in the future.

– Sir, what do you think about Porto?

– As coaches, we always follow the teams that are interesting to watch closely and learn their qualities and football styles. In the past seasons, Porto has always been one of the teams I have looked at because they have a similar vision to me regarding football and the development of players who can play in the A team. We also have friends in football who have been working in Porto for all these years, so it’s always nice to meet them.

– What does it mean to you as a coach to work with Ukrainian players? More specifically, what does it mean to you to teach not just football but other things to consider?

– For me, this is my second experience in Ukraine: when the country was easier, I developed my coaching career in Shakhtar and was the director of the Academy. Last year I went to Ukraine to become a coach at another club and the situation was completely different. There are more challenges when playing the game and moving between cities – it takes more time, there are combat-related features. All clubs playing in the UPL are doing everything possible to organize a normal championship for all fans. This situation continues this year. Football in Ukraine is still developing and young players in local teams are being given more opportunities to develop.

– I continue my colleague’s question: Is Shakhtar’s decision to participate in the UEFA Champions League an expression of attitude? Can you comment on the events that took place in the country in the last few months?

– This is your question, but I think this issue worries everyone now. How can Shakhtar help Ukraine through football? This is the only way for us to help: to inform people around the world about the situation in Ukraine, to give our players the opportunity to participate in international competitions. There are two goals – playing football and spreading information about current events in Ukraine.