“Shakhtar’s Kermanych made his comment shortly before the Champions League match.”, — write: champions.football.ua
Shakhtar’s Kermanych made his comment shortly before the Champions League match.
Shakhtar — Brest. Announcement and forecast for the Champions League match on January 22, 2025
The specialist shared his expectations from the confrontation and gave an assessment of today’s opponent:
“We are looking forward to the official game. Although it is the first official match and immediately at the level of the Champions League, we are very excited to play it. As you know, we start our performances in the domestic league on February 24, so it is still a long way away. So the first part of our off-season was focused on this game and the next game against Borussia Dortmund, which is not an ideal situation because, as you know, we didn’t have any officials matches before the Champions League match, like Brest, which seems to have had four matches, so we lack that complexity of real official matches, which is not so easy and ideal, but I saw a team that is very demanding and wants to achieve something, to develop. We have been working very hard and, as I said, it is a game in a big arena against a very difficult opponent, so we are looking forward to it we are waiting
As I said, Brest is a very serious opponent, a team that is very difficult to beat. They didn’t just collect a lot of points in the Champions League. It will be a very difficult game. How we try to turn it to our advantage at this level depends on the details. Of course we have a game plan, but as I said it will be very difficult because they also play great defense, they have powerful quick players, they are a difficult team to beat in every aspect. So we have to be in the best shape today to get a good result. But we are very happy to play this match, we have worked hard to prove ourselves again and I think this game will be interesting.
Can the pause be Shakhtar’s advantage? We faced that last season as well, and I think it’s definitely a negative for us. It’s no secret that when the offseason begins, as a team you need that rigor of real matches to reach your best form. We don’t have that right now, although that doesn’t mean we’re out of shape. So we’ll see today. Unfortunately, we can’t play official league matches until the Champions League – it would be ideal for us to have an edge, that’s true, but it’s still one game. To finish the answer to this question, as I said, last season we had this situation when we played Marseille: without really difficult matches, we immediately started playing in the Europa League. Although the level is higher now, it will be even harder for us to compete in intensity. But again, we’ve been fantastic in the offseason so far, so I’m really excited to see what we’re going to do today.
How is cooperation between Ukrainians, Brazilians and players of other nationalities built? Having a lot of players of different nationalities and young performers in the team means that there is a development process going on and I have to say that they have all contributed. It really is a united team and I am also very happy to see this development. For me, nationality never plays a role, two things matter: qualities and character. Therefore, if you have these two things, in the end you have to show the result on the field. This is what becomes the deciding factor for me when it comes to who I let play at the right time. I have some ideas about it, but it won’t be what you think. Maybe I will surprise you today.
Words for the people who will come to support Shakhtar? As I said last time, football without fans is not football for me. And, unfortunately, we face this in the domestic championship, where I would be very happy to see more people in the stadiums. And the fact that there will be a lot of them today to support the team means a lot to us, so we need that energy. We will also try to give them energy to support us, but we need it as a team. And as you know, we always play away matches, although formally it is a home game for us, but we always play away matches and of course we need our fans. That’s why I’m looking forward to meeting them today,” Pushych said.
As a reminder, the match between Shakhtar and Brest will start today, January 22, at 19:45 Kyiv time. Arena Auf Schalke in Gelsenkirchen hosts the Eurocup meeting with the participation of Donetsk nationals. Swiss referee Sandro Scherer will judge the teams.
After six played matches of the updated Champions League, Shakhtar is 28th in the standings with four points, while Brest is in ninth place with 13.