Shakhtar vs Fenerbahce: players’ view

06-08-15 01:15:27

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Players of the Donetsk team have reflected on the win over Fenerbahce.

Darijo Srna, Shakhtar’s captain:

- We were attacking almost the entire first game in Istanbul and today. We wanted to seal the fate of the match in the first half. We realised that we had to be cautious, and that’s why we began to wait after scoring the first goal. We knew that the opponents would attack, and we have quick players who can counterattack. And so it happened. We had studied Fenerbahce very well: they have a lot of tall players, so there was no point in playing long balls. So it had been agreed that Oleksandr would run to the near post - and it has turned out well! If Shakhtar move as they should, it is a very strong team.

Alex Teixeira, Shakhtar’s midfielder:

- There is a difference between the first match against Fenerbahce and today’s: back then we played well only in the the first half, but today we showed great movement during the whole game. We took to the pitch focused solely on winning. We managed to score a goal in the first half, after that Mister asked us to play in a more cautious manner, on the counterattacks. And then we managed to score our second goal against Fenerbahce. Speaking of penalties, Mister always discusses it with us. Today, it was Darijo: he is the captain! I want to thank all the fans and congratulate them on our win! I hope that every game will be like that.

Andriy Pyatov, Shakhtar’s goalkeeper:

- Today we have proved that football is played not by stars, but by a team. I tried to do everything as had been agreed with the coach. But I am not very happy - I need to play better with my feet and improve taking goal kicks. Now a goalkeeper not only makes saves, he must also initiate the attacking moves... In general, I would say that in Istanbul we looked great too, but it was the first match – certain nervousness was present. We had a good first half, and today the entire game was evenly matched. I am pleased with the support! We gave people a celebration, and they were rooting for us and driving our team forward. Many thanks to them! I hope that in the next match the support will be as good as today.

Taison, Shakhtar’s midfielder:

- Both games with Fenerbahce have been very difficult. Today we created a good chance and managed to score the first goal! In the second half we dropped deep a bit and played on the counterattacks. Thanks to Marlos, we earned a penalty kick, scoring our second goal, which made us feel more confident. We did a great job and achieved the best result! By the way, any team that are losing often cannot control their emotions. But the players of Fenerbahce behaved in a decent manner: we were not tackled roughly, everything was fine. Now we need to relax and keep training, because on Sunday we will play an important league match.