Stanojević full of praise for Shakhtar

FC Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu praised his team for carrying our their game plan to secure a 3-0 win at FK Partizan that moved them three points clear in UEFA Champions League Group H and all but secures a knockout place. Aleksandar Stanojević was in reflective mood after eliminated Partizan's last home game but took time to congratulate Shakhtar.

Aleksandar Stanojević, Partizan coach
Shakhtar showed their class and deserved the victory for one simple reason – they were better than us. Until the 55th minute, the match was just about equal, but after that, the only question was with how many goals they would beat us by.

I cannot understand how we've conceded at least one poor goal per match while we've had big problems just creating chances. This competition was a very good education for us but we need more quality players for this stage. I am upset that we haven't any points yet as I was expecting at least some.

Now, we must play against Arsenal in London, where they already scored 11 goals. We must play for pride and our club. I congratulate Shakhtar for how they played tonight. We missed our chances against Braga, but that story is over now.

Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
We had a difficult first half. Partizan pushed us hard. Before the game we had a talk about having to control possession more in the first half and impose a different game – our style of game – after the interval. Partizan have a lot of physically big players who failed to cope with our speed and technique, so they got tired more quickly than us. We were a better team and deserved the three points today.

It'll be an interesting last game against Braga. The stadium will be packed and we'll feel their support. It was no surprise for me that Braga won against Arsenal. We studied their matches and saw that this team has great quality. Everybody thought that Arsenal would easily top this group, but as you see it's not as easy as it seems.