“The coach of the “miners” shared his thoughts after the game with Legia.”, — write: football.ua
The coach of the “miners” shared his thoughts after the game with Legia.
Arda Turan, FC Shakhtar October 24, 2025, 00:50
“First of all, I want to congratulate Legia. If a team is beating you, it must have done more right things than you. As for us, we tried to stay true to our game plan, but at the beginning of the match, our fighting skills and concentration level were not enough. After conceding a goal, we were very slow to take throw-ins, and we were also slow to get up after fouls. It did not look like the behavior of a team that is losing in the score. I said that to our players in the dressing room and then we took control of the game.
I am proud of the level of play in the second half, because we had 18-19-year-old boys in attack. It was a team made up of our future. They played great, but they need to learn to do the right thing in key moments – and we will work on that and improve. Regarding the loss: I take full responsibility, but it is also a loss that we can make up for in the future. We are optimistic about the future, so we will continue to prepare and focus on the big game on Sunday.
It was a match that we can make up for, we can play back later. That is why we chose such a composition. Otherwise, the Conference League is more important to us than anything else, but we have to do it because we have long journeys and are always dealing with a lot of injuries. If you look in general, all Ukrainian teams that play in Europe do the same because of certain difficulties at the border and long journeys.
Legia was the team with the most crosses in their league, as well as the most shots on goal and the fewest shots allowed by their opponents. They have good stats, they have had difficult moments before, but we have a lot of respect for them. They have a very good coach, whom we also respect. They beat us, and if they did, they did better than us.
In football, you can play well in general, but at the same time, football is also the ability to act correctly in key moments. Regarding the second half, I’m completely satisfied with the level of play, but in the last seconds we should not have taken a throw-in right there or turned the ball in the direction of our goal. In order for us to concede a goal, we need to make five or six mistakes in a row, and we had those mistakes. And in experienced players. Regarding the tactical error, I cannot say anything yet, because it would be wrong to draw conclusions before watching the analysis of the match. But as for the level of play, like I said, I’m happy and it all comes down to certain moments.
Fesyun’s debut game? First of all, if I put one goalkeeper in the lineup, I don’t have to think about whether it would be different if another played, because I respect all my players. As for Fesyun, he is a very valuable goalkeeper, very promising, he has a good future ahead of him. At this level, he will learn by making mistakes. He has high quality in the passing game, excellent footwork, but will only improve with game practice. No one learns without making mistakes, and I will never take away from my players the right to make mistakes. I have 24 football players and in this tight schedule with long trips I need every one of them. I am proud of them, and we will still be able to compensate for this defeat. I am very happy with Fesyun’s performance and if I had to play this match again, I would put him in the lineup again.
Of course, players can be tired, this is absolutely natural, because the conditions are very difficult. The country is at war, and I don’t want to use that as an excuse, but it is extremely difficult for a professional footballer, an athlete, to perform in such circumstances and after moving far away. Polissya faced the same thing, Dynamo and we are facing it. We try to minimize the influence of these factors, but we have to take such a risk. We simply have no choice,” Turan was quoted as saying by the club’s press service.
On Football.ua A video review of the Shakhtar – Legia match is available for viewing.