Srna: We will play our football against Barca

Press conference of caretaker coach of Shakhtar Darijo Srna before the match against Barcelona.

– Darijo, new coach Marino Pusic was introduced to the team today, he already had a theory session. Tell us, how will you share the coaching duties and the responsibility for the result with him during tomorrow’s match?
– Yes, first of all, I want to formally announce and you all already know that we signed a new Shakhtar coach an hour ago. I am very happy about this, because I think we signed a very strong coach who will show a great result in the future. He started today, there was a theory session already. I have been in contact with this coach for a long time: even after the previous match against LNZ, when I was a coach, we discussed that game a lot. We also talked about tomorrow’s match. So, I think we will have time to arrange everything and tomorrow our head coach will be on the bench with me and another assistant.

– And if the team win tomorrow, does the credit go to you?
– The credit goes to all of us together, no matter whether we win or lose – we do it all together as one family.

– You said that when you are ready to lead Shakhtar, you will tell the president about it. What has to happen for you to be ready?
– I already said that Shakhtar signed the coach an hour ago. I will not talk about the next coach. I will talk about the current coach, who I am sure will give us what we need. We have been supporting his appointment for a long time and finally got him. He has our absolute trust. He has the trust of the players, which I understood from the first theory session, which I am happy with. This is the most important thing. We need to start his work, and we will already practise all this on the field – for our club, for our fans, for all of Ukraine.

– You got an offer to move to Barcelona at the time, but you rejected it. Do you regret this decision to turn down Barcelona and stay at Shakhtar?
– Yes, I had an offer from Barcelona and spoke with then head coach Luis Enrique. But I listened to the voice of my heart. Do I regret it? Yes, maybe I regret it a little, but I stayed with my favourite club when it was in a very difficult situation, when the war started in 2014. And I could not leave the club, the president, the fans. Of course, it sticks to your memory that Barcelona wanted you. Yes, it was nice, but I did not leave. I will be glad to do my best so that Shakhtar show our game on the field against very serious team with a very serious coach tomorrow.

– At the press conference, Barcelona coach Xavi said that Shakhtar are very tough opponents who have no fear and can be surprising. What do these words mean to you?
– It is very nice when such a player, coach and person like Xavi gives such compliments to Shakhtar. I think he knows Shakhtar very well, because he had to struggle with Shakhtar more than once. Our players came here to show what we can do. And we know how to play beautiful football. And tomorrow we will try to play our football from the first minute to the last. Of course, we will run and cover Barcelona, which are a very strong team and the favourite of tomorrow’s match. But I want our players to have fun in front of a packed stadium. And because of such games they can become even stronger and even better.

– Barcelona have major squad problems: Lewandowski, Pedri, De Jong and others will not play. How do you look at it?
– Yes, Barcelona are missing several players who are very strong. But Barcelona are always Barcelona. And Shakhtar are also missing three or four injured players. We have analysed Barcelona and we will do everything to exploit their weaknesses and cover their strengths. This is football, this is Barcelona. But I am sure that tomorrow our players should enter the field energised and relaxed and play our football. We have had a very difficult period in recent months when we did not play good football we need. So, the change of the coach in itself should lead to a certain reaction. I require my footballers to play real Shakhtar’s football and have fun. In particular, during the match against Barcelona tomorrow.

– One more question about the new mentor. Pusic does not have much experience as a head coach. Did this moment not bother you when signing the contract?
– I am not sure about him not having much experience. We look at this differently, we look at his personal and coaching qualities. And when we sat opposite each other, we realised that he is potentially the strongest coach for Shakhtar.

– There is a war going on in Ukraine now. How is it reflected in the daily work of the team and how has it affected the club in general?
– In the beginning, it was very hard, because we lost 14 players. Then we got together, did not give up and started building new young Shakhtar. And we are on the right track to make this Shakhtar one of the strongest in the history of the club and Ukrainian football. So, the guys who will play tomorrow, Sudakov, who is young, but has already gained a lot of experience in the Champions League, withstood enormous pressure, must lead the team forward together with Bondar, Stepanenko and others. They did it last year, and will only be stronger in the future. And we have to do everything to strengthen our team in the winter. And again, we are on the right track to make strongest Shakhtar.