The last 6th round match of Champions League Group C was played between Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk on December 13. The match ended with the score of 5:3 for the “dragons”.

After the meeting, the head coach of the Donetsk club Marino Pusic held a press conference:

– In your opinion, what was the reason for the defeat? Maybe in the end there was not enough power compared to Porto? What exactly might have caused this and what is your general reaction to the outcome?

– Yes, unfortunately we lost and the reason is very simple; They scored five goals and we only scored three. That was too much for an away game, but not enough. Porto is a very good team, as I said before, they are a hard-to-play, fast-paced, adventurous team. The opponent started well, we fought well. We dominated some parts of the match, but we made 2-3 unnecessary mistakes, too many for this level. So it wasn’t that easy to play, but of course we always tried to do it, especially in the last 25 minutes when the score was 2:3. We changed our offensive players, we wanted to win back, but then we lost again. I must say that the level of the opponent also played a role, because this is their style, this is what we were preparing for. Actually, everything happened as we talked about, but in a negative way for us.

– What words did you find for the players after the match and how would you describe this period for the team in general, because this was Shakhtar’s last official match in 2023?

– To be honest, sometimes it’s strange to be proud of the team after a defeat, because we really came here to compete and play, and I think we have something to offer the audience: quality football with a very worthy opponent. My players did their best, fought until the end, the last 25 minutes was probably a one-on-one game, there were only three defenders, we lined up all the attackers. We actually did everything, but they also did everything. That’s why I’m so proud of this very young team. These matches are important for the development of young players because this is the only way to gain this experience and that is what we did.

On the one hand, I am grateful for such matches as they help me learn and grow. If you look at our Champions League campaign so far, we were in a very tough group, we got 9 points, that’s a great achievement, we’re playing good football. I can say that I am very pleased with the efforts of my players in the last two months, their individual development and the progress of the team. Therefore, if I describe my first two months in this club – hard work, a lot of traveling, less than ideal conditions for work due to the current situation, which everyone knows. But they worked hard every day, they were disciplined and you could see it in the matches. I am proud of them once again. We achieved a very important goal for our club and managed to stay in the Europa League, which is a big tournament.

– I know it is very difficult to say anything after such a result, but one of the positive moments was the game of Daniil Sican. It is rare in Ukrainian football to see strikers scoring goals in the Champions League like he is doing now. He made so many mistakes last Champions League season, how has he changed now and how are you working with him to improve and achieve this result?

– First of all, two things are always important: Your ability to grow with your character. Fighting spirit and character. And this applies not only to Sican, who is making very good progress, which I am happy to see, many people are taking such steps. As I said, this is a very young team and there are many young players. You have to put in a lot of effort and work hard to reach the level of a strong player in the Champions League. I repeat: He has the ability to develop and the character to work hard. These two aspects are part of the development along with the program, training and video analysis we carry out with all players. This is good to see and I think it is very important for Ukrainian football.

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Posted by: FC Shakhtar Donetsk (@fcshakhtar)