Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Jose Boto has shared his belief that tomorrow’s final UEFA Champions League group stage match away to Inter is one of the most important match of each club’s seasons so far.
“It is one of the most important matches of the season, for us and I think also for Inter,” he began an interview with Italian news outlet PassioneInter.com.
“In this group of death, with four top teams, everyone has gotten to the end with a chance to qualify but it is difficult to say how our team reaches this commitment, because we play every two or three days, the players don’t have time to train calmly.
“We played the Europa League semi final against Inter and after five days we started the new season! It’s all about playing, recovering, playing, recovering. It is very difficult to say then. If I look at the last matches I say that we have improved, we are more of a team.
He then went on to share his thoughts on Inter as a team and was highly complimentary of the Nerazzurri side.
“Inter for me are one of the European teams capable of playing their game against anyone. They are one of the best clubs in Europe, with one of the best coaches in the world. From a tactical point of view in my opinion they are one of the strongest teams currently. They have great players, with great experience.”
He was then asked what he expects from Inter in the match at San Siro which is scheduled to kick off at 21:00 local time tomorrow.
“We expect to face a very strong Inter, as always. They know our way of playing well, we expect them to try to stop our strengths by trying to hit our weak points because this is Inter, the best team when it comes to tactically preparing matches.”
Next he was asked if any special measures will be taken to stop Inter talisman Romelu Lukaku, who has scored 12 goals in 13 appearances across all competitions to date this term.
“Inter have top players in every department. If we focus only on him, we leave other equally strong players free, like Lautaro, who for me is one of the best strikers in the world. Obviously he is very difficult to stop, because he is in excellent form. We know his value, but we will not have special measures for him, we will look at the whole team.”
He was then asked what has changed about Shakhtar Donetsk in recent month from going from being beaten 5-0 by Inter to drawing 0-0 with them earlier in the group stage.
“We suffered a clear defeat last season. We analysed everything, from the team to the management to the problems and we have grown.
“We demonstrated it in the last match against Inter and in the other matches. I think that playing against clubs like Inter can help us grow more.
“Sometimes some details make some matches balanced only on one side. I think that the 5-0 did not demonstrate the real difference between Inter and us. Inter, however, deserved the victory by hitting us in the weakest points. I expect to see a different match this time.”
