Malmö told to snap out of it against Shakhtar
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Article summary
Malmö coach Åge Hareide has called on his players to be "less impressed" and to "learn to handle" the UEFA Champions League ahead of the visit of Shakhtar Donetsk.
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Article body
- Malmö and Shakhtar Donetsk both looking for their first Group A point
- Shakhtar ended Dynamo Kyiv's 38-match unbeaten league run at the weekend
- Mircea Lucescu takes charge of 100th game in UEFA Champions League proper
- Malmö's matchday two defeat is only loss in their last 13 home fixtures
- Åge Hareide asks Swedish champions to "be less star-struck"
Possible lineup
Malmö: Wiland; Tinnerholm, Bengtsson, Árnason, Konate; Rodić, Adu, Lewicki, Berget; Rosenberg, Djurdjić.
Out: Molins (knee), Azinovic (knee), Carvalho (hip), Yotún (suspended)
Shakhtar: Pyatov; Srna, Kucher, Rakitskiy, Ismaily; Stepanenko, Fred, Marlos, Bernard; Alex Teixeira; Gladkiy.
Out: Shevchuk (unspecified), Taison (unspecified), Malyshev (unspecified)
Åge Hareide, Malmö coach
Shakhtar stood up to Real Madrid and also played well against Paris. They are a good team. They play with a high tempo and can also be direct, even with more possession. They have a lot of good players like [Alex] Teixeira, Bernard and the big forward [Olexandr Gladkiy]. Their wing-backs are very good, but we need to stop their team, not individual players. They attack pretty much all the time and maybe they leave themselves a bit too open, so that gives us a chance.
Here in Scandinavia, we tend to get down on our knees when we are up against big teams. We did that against Real Madrid and Paris, much more than we did against Juventus and Atlético Madrid last year. We have a lot of young players and I understand that they can get a bit star-struck when they play against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović, but it is not good. We need to be less impressed. We need to learn how to handle them.
Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach
This is not a decisive game, it's just another match in the group. But of course, if either team wins the next two games they will have a very good chance of reaching the next round. We have lost two matches but that was our own fault. We made several mistakes, although we played at the same level as Real Madrid and Paris.
We will play a good team tomorrow. Malmö, Real Madrid and Paris all are very well-organised. If Malmö had played with more guts in their two previous games they might have got some points. I don't think they'll play like they did against Paris or Madrid against us; they'll most likely be more offensive. They are a good side and knocked out Salzburg and Celtic in qualifying, which wasn't easy.
I think this game will be very good to watch. It's two good teams and I don't see us as favourites. I don't want to talk about favourites in the Champions League. It is difficult to play against teams from Scandinavia. We have faced sides from here before. We'll try to play the ball on the ground and hopefully that will be enough for a win.
Weekend results
Malmö 3-0 Kalmar (Rosenberg 68 90+4, Berget 83)
Markus Rosenberg scored twice in the last quarter to fire the deposed Swedish champions to victory. Jo Inge Berget, who set up the first, got the second in between Rosenberg's two goals.
Dynamo Kyiv 0-3 Shakhtar (Marlos 40, Alex Teixeira 59 67)
Dynamo's 38-match unbeaten run in the Ukrainian Premier League was brought to a shuddering halt on Friday by their title rivals. Marlos deflated the hosts on 40 minutes before Alex Teixeira's second-half double sealed a resounding win and moved Shakhtar level on points with Dynamo at the summit.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Malmö: WLLDWW
Shakhtar: WWLWWW
Did you know?
Shakhtar reached the quarter-finals in their best UEFA Champions League season; find out more in our extensive match background.