Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director José Boto spoke about the Ukrainian side’s Europa League semi-finals against Inter tomorrow evening in an interview with Italian media outlet TuttoMercatoWeb earlier today.

“It’s a unique moment in history. When you think about it, you realize that it’s not a normal period and I miss normality. But when the ball starts rolling, I forget about it and football counts, that counts.”’

He touched on how difficult it is for the squad to forget the issues going on around the world during this period and focus on football.

“It’s difficult, but as I said before when the ball starts rolling everyone forgets about it. We had an exceptional season, even before this match we played good football in Europe, first in the Champions League and then in the Europa League against Benfica and Wolfsburg.”

The Shakhtar sporting director did think that tomorrow’s game was 50-50, rather than Inter being favourites.

“If we put it in numbers yes, I’d say 50-50. Inter come from a great league, however we don’t and I think we have more responsibility than we do.”

Boto didn’t want to single out the threat of Nerazzurri striker Romelu Lukaku.

“Inter are a great team, they’re not just a player, we can’t just focus on Lukaku.”

He highlighted which players he’d like not to be in Conte’s line-up tomorrow.

“Many…”

The executive commented on the philosophy at the Ukrainian club and the mixed squad of Brazilians and Europeans.

“The secret is the president’s vision and that doesn’t change because of the results. Everybody knows that we have to work according to his ideas and we do it with enthusiasm, because it is the secret of this club. It’s like a family.”

Finally, Boto spoke about which Shakhtar star will next explode onto the European scene.

“I can only say that in the future stars from Shakhtar will surely be known.”

Inter coach Antonio Conte is working hard to prepare the squad for tomorrow evening’s challenge, in what will be one of the most important games of the season for the club. The 51-year-old Italian coach will meet with the Nerazzurri’s management at the end of this campaign to discuss market objectives and his future.