Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin shared his thoughts ahead of the UCL second leg with Real Madrid.

– What do you feel taking into account the recent events? Shakhtar have not played in Donetsk for 8 years. Did you have the chance to attend the team matches back then?
– The recent news is very sad for us, for all Ukrainians. But we must be strong and show the entire world that Ukrainians are strong people. We shall enter the field tomorrow and concentrate on the match. The recent events were not an excuse, because it is the Champions League and you must give not one hundred, but one thousand percent. I am from Donetsk myself and I attended many Shakhtar’s matches there. I think that if we play in Donetsk we would have more chances, because support of the fans and the atmosphere at the Donbass Arena are on a different level. I miss this very much. I agree with Mister that we will win and play the UCL matches at the Donbass Arena as soon as possible. And we all will celebrate.

– How hard is it to concentrate on the football after such news from Ukraine?
– Of course, it is hard to focus now, but I think we are a breed, which cannot sit back and do nothing thinking about bad things. We have to be a team motivated and focused to the maximum extent. As Mister has already said, 90 minutes of the Champions League help the fans from Ukraine to forget about all the problems. Like our warriors, we will try to do everything possible to give our people joy and make them smile. People can forget everything that is happening right now at least for 90 minutes and focus only on the football. Football is the game loved by everyone, the game giving positive emotions.

– You had to do a lot of work in Madrid making 11 saves. What game do you expect in the second encounter?
– It will be a completely different game tomorrow, because we prepared better for the second leg. We know that we can play better even against such teams as Real Madrid. As Mister has said, we need more courage, we shall play our game and be Shakhtar. If there will be moments when I have to save my team, it is my job. Everybody has their roles on the football field and everybody must correspond to them on the highest level. We must play perfectly to defeat Real Madrid.