Mircea Lucescu: I want them to respect Shakhtar!

20-05-15 22:57:27

Text SizePrintSend

Press conference by Shakhtar head coach after the game against Dnipro.

- It was a very special cup game, especially in the final phase of the competition. Two teams met, who wanted to show their best on the football pitch, being full of enthusiasm and strong desire. Dnipro wanted to demonstrate today that they play in the Europa League final for a reason. At the same time, we tried to show that we have been the same strong team as we were previously. The team who are feared by other clubs. I think the score does not fully correspond to what was happening on the pitch. Perhaps, we deserved more today. We fully bossed it throughout the match. I am sure that there were two penalty situations in the first half: the first one was awarded for a foul on Stepanenko, when he got pulled, the second one - when the defender wanted to handball it and even clearly tried to reach for the ball with the hand. Of course, the ref could not but award the third penalty. In general, the teams probably deserved the applause from the audience for the performance they produced. Today's match once again shows that there is a good reason why I insist on the knockout option that I’ve been constantly talking about. Such encounters between the top four clubs would probably see a full house. We don’t even fear playing in today’s conditions, when everyone cheers against us. Unfortunately, it’s politics, not the sport, that comes to the fore in the Ukrainian league. And they’ve probably been treating us as a team from Donetsk which conflicts with Ukraine. This can be seen by looking at the audience. I didn’t think they had any doubts about the performance produced by Shakhtar. I said and want to repeat it once again: we are the team who somehow get punished all the time. While some opponents, on the contrary, are helped. In the first place, they help Dynamo. Let’s remember the situation when they sent off Shevchuk and suspended Stepanenko in a game against them. Here, in Lviv, in a match against Dynamo, Rybalka handballed it. That episode could have changed everything in the league. In Lutsk, there was a clear penalty case, all the experts said that. In the first leg against Dnipro, Kalinic elbowed Stepanenko, resulting in our footballer being covered in blood. This could also change everything. I do not want to recall many other episodes – for instance, cancelling Yarmolenko’s card. And this happens despite the fact that one team constantly play at home, and the other play away. Perhaps, this is not quite correct. Of course, at home you never get as many cards as you do away. Because of suspensions, we lose players often. We addressed the Federation to cancel all the cards. This is done both in the Champions League and Europa League. FIFA and UEFA do so. But if they don’t cancel them, the Cup is also a flawed competition then. Plus the final is held at the stadium in Kyiv, that implies a lot. It is interesting to see which team would approve of such conditions. I want to express my thoughts on this matter! They always ask me and write a lot about it. It’s one year since we’ve been away from Donetsk. Since the press conference about my extending the contract for another year. I knew it would be very difficult this league season. I will stay for another year in the same conditions and with the same problems in place. But I do not want to be punished professionally and humiliated as a coach in front of my players! I want them to respect us for the history we made for the Ukrainian football. We deserve it both for the quality of the game and for our recent achievements. These are the things which the press must speak about and comment on. If something that I am saying is not true, let them refute it then. But if I say something, it is based on certain facts. It is sad that the Lviv audience perceive us like that - we haven’t deserved it.

FC Shakhtar