Successful Performance of "Shakhtar U-19" in Championship and Eurocups

"Shakhtar U-19" leads in the championship and is close to UEFA Youth League playoffs with 7 consecutive wins and effective coaching strategies.

The "Shakhtar U-19" team confidently maintains leadership in the junior clubs' championship with 40 points after 14 rounds and seven consecutive victories. The head coach of the "miners" Oleksiy Belik shared insights on achieving such results.

- To an outside observer, it may seem that victories come easily due to the recent big scores, - explains Belik. - However, there is significant effort behind this from the team, the coaching staff, and the entire Academy. Additionally, the challenging trips to the Eurocup matches are exhausting. The most important aspect in the team is consistency. We put great emphasis on attacking play with a focus on creating and converting chances. The best players who can score are in "Manchester City", "Barcelona", "Real". Our players are still on their way there, - smiles the coach. In the past three rounds of the Ukrainian championship, "Shakhtar" achieved three victories with a total score of 17:4. Although many consider some of our opponents to be weak, dealing with them proved not to be so simple in practice.

In particular, teams like "Zorya" or "Atalanta" are strong opponents. Nevertheless, this did not prevent us from scoring six goals in a match. These goals result from hard work and discipline in training and the players' efforts, - emphasized Belik. Currently, "Shakhtar" U-19 is on the brink of the UEFA Youth League playoffs. The next match will be held in Eindhoven against "PSV".

- Every encounter in the Eurocup is of great importance to us, regardless of the tournament position. It is always a responsibility of the Academy and an incredible experience for our young players. This season, our results confirm this. Every match matters. From the standpoint of the leaderboard, we are among the leaders. Nevertheless, it is challenging to say that 9 points are enough since we participate in such a format for the first time. "PSV" has only 2 points, and they need to give it all on the field. Therefore, we will play as usual in our aggressive football, - concluded Belik.

The match against "PSV" will take place on November 27 at 16:00 Kyiv time.