Stepanenko: Shakhtar has a great opportunity to advance from the group

Shakhtar captain Taras Stepanenko shared his impressions after a win over RB Leipzig on the UEFA Champions League group stage MD1.

– Congratulations! Are you surprised with such score?
– No, I knew that we have good positions to play the game beforehand. We deserved this victory. I felt that we have an excellent team where everyone helps each other. It was not easy to win, because RB Leipzig is a very strong team, but we made every effort on the field and deserved this victory.

– Could you imagine that you would score 4 goals against Leipzig in your wildest dreams?
– It is really a crazy night. 4-1 win. We had the right spirit. If you have a united team, there are all the chances to win. We deserved this result and move on.

– You have been playing for the team for more than 10 years, but now FC Shakhtar is building a new team.
– Yes, we have completely new team due to the situation in Ukraine, but all the guys passed through the Shakhtar Academy, have mentality and spirit of this club, know how the club has played at the peak in Donetsk. All the guys have correct thinking and this means a lot for our club. You saw it. There was one team on the field. Yes, we do not have big stars now, but we have the team and I think that it is very important under such circumstances.

– Shakhtar got into the difficult group. What are the perspectives in the UCL?
– When we got to the Champions League, I did not worry for my team. I think that we have a great opportunity to advance from the group. I don’t know if we would finish second, third or fourth. We have good chance to continue playing in Eurocups in February or March in the next year. I don’t know for sure, but we will see it in the future. You know, young players can perform on the top level in one match and failed in the next one. We will try to demonstrate the best we can do.