Mircea Lucescu: There're many cities ready to host Ukrainian League

28-04-15 14:58:40

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At the open training session before the Cup tie vs Dnipro, the Pitmen’s mentor talked to journalists.

- All players are getting ready for it. No one has any fitness issues. Kryvtsov, who got injured in the game against Dynamo, has also rejoined the general group. We all understand that tomorrow will be a tough encounter. There’s always some exciting sports competition between Shakhtar and Dnipro. The fact that Dnipro made it to the Europa League semis gives them confidence and enthusiasm. Plus they will be playing at home, in front of their home audience. Besides, in recent years Dnipro have not won a single title, although a lot of money has been spent on the creation of the great team. I am sure they will be utterly motivated for tomorrow's match. Meanwhile, we will try to recover after drawing with Dynamo and, by and large, after the domestic league failure. There will surely be some tight competition for the Ukrainian Cup, as well as for the second spot, which gives us the right to qualify in the Champions League. I hope my players are well aware of what awaits them before the league season end. The Ukrainians know that very well, while the Brazilians, especially the newcomers don’t fully understand it  ... I expect that it will be a spectacular game with proper refereeing.

There are some points that I want to mention in the light of recent Sunday's meeting. I have already mentioned it and want to repeat once again: we are on the way to a different formula in order to have more games between the top teams. The atmosphere and the pressure of the public will always be there. By and large, we enjoy no support today. And if we continue to play in the same conditions, we won’t have it in the future. All that happens is done for the only purpose ... How can we interpet the things that took place in the match against Dynamo differently? Khacheridi must have got three yellow cards: for attacking the goalkeeper, for elbowing Adriano and for desperate fouling on Luiz. Only in the latter case a yellow card was shown! Although he must have earned a red card that would have given us a major advantage. The second point: 60 per cent of the opposition attacks were launched after the Dynamo men fouled on our players, switching to their counterattacking moves. The ref allowed the meeting to continue without recording the violation, with the opponent immediately kicking off. It’s not yesterday that I’ve become a coach, so I have an idea how they help teams to win. At the moment, we are also thinking about lifting the yellow card of Rakitskiy, who got it just for nothing – as he didn’t touch at that point Yarmolenko, who fell down and faked it. Certainly I don’t mean that the result doesn’t correspond to what was happening on the field. Two good teams were playing. The emphasis was placed on tactics. I am just assessing Dynamo’s performance over the entire current period. It’s easy to play when all the matches are held at home and the audience supports you. While we're the team who came from the conflict zone. It is also felt in the fans’ attitude towards us.

Similarly, in the history of Romania there was a time when the country just lost Transylvania - after the Vienna Treaty. Back then, the Oradea team were multiple champions of Romania. They moved to Hungary and won that league edition. Another team, Universitatea Cluj - famous student club with a rich history - moved from Cluj city to the south of Transylvania to play in Sibiu in the Romanian league. They thought that was going to happen not for long, though they stayed there for a few years. Four years later, the club returned to its normal life in Cluj, just as the other teams who have returned to Romania to play in the domestic league. Oradea has lost the liking of the Romanians for a lifetime, having no respect from anyone when they returned into the league. Conversely, Universitatea Cluj enjoy huge support in the state regardless of where the games are played! Back then, they left their home city, but they didn't leave the country. Almost the same thing is happening to us. They must have applauded our team instead of booing us and treating us like that. I speak as someone who came from abroad and who currently stays in this country. The same thing as happened in Crimea, where two Ukrainian clubs just ceased to exist, might have happened to Shakhtar! And only owing to the president of our club, Shakhtar – being a symbol of footballing Donbass and European brand - has not disappeared. We perform our duties, we respect everyone and maintain a high level of Ukrainian football, doing everything possible to improve and develop it. Naturally, we are having a hard time. But, if it continues like that, it will be very difficult for us to base it on Brazilian players in the future. There will be a different motivation, different ambitions. The we will need to put more heart into it to achieve maximum results. I can understand that after winning five consecutive titles, someone might get antipathetic towards us. But I do not want to return to the league we had 10 years ago, when we got here. Back then, even before the competition start, everything was clear. I can see that now they are trying to get back to the same thing ... It would be a step back, and it would be a great pity. Everywhere the teams are progressing, while in Ukraine they make a step back. The clubs’ presence in the Champions League means a lot image wise. And we can’t just calmly follow how biased they are towards us compared to the other teams.

- Given your dissatisfaction with the Lviv fans, do you consider the option of you playing mainly in Kyiv next season? Or just there?
- Everything is possible. As an option, matches can be played elsewhere in Ukraine. There are Kharkiv, Sumy, Cherkasy and many other cities who could host the Ukrainian League. Most importantly, the city has to know a month in advance about our decision to be able to prepare the field, to ensure the conditions. The same Chernivtsi, for instance. I'm sure that should we play there, everyone will be rooting for us! A great many Romanians reside in Chernivtsi. (Laughs.) Of course, we need our own audience. Shakhtar has created a machine to achieve positive results, but our fans form the main element in it. We need to resolve this issue. Playing at Bannikov stadium in front of 500 spectators is not an option.

FC Shakhtar