Clubs from Eastern Europe amicably failed to start the Champions League starting day, having lost all three of their matches with a total score of 0:13. One of the losers is Shakhtar Donetsk, who suffered from Roma.
Meanwhile, for one and a half halves, fans of the Ukrainian champion to watch his game at the Stadio Olimpiko was very expensive. And then, somehow suddenly, it became - just a little expensive. For your own health.
The Romans achieved their record victory in the group stage of the league thanks to the amazing productivity of attacks in the final quarter of the match. Goal turned out to be four of five (for the whole game!) Hits on target. Their guard - Dmitry Shutkov - the players of Roma, as well as the spectators in the stands, as if did not notice. Although, by and large, the 34-year-old goalkeeper should be counted without reservations only the last of the goals: the Chilean Pizarro sent the ball, albeit along a mysterious trajectory, but from 25 meters, and there were chances to repel the blow. In the three previous accidents, the poor fellow Shutkov could only attend. Taddei, Totti and De Rossi were beaten from close distances from the environment of Donetsk defenders, schoolchildly losing opponents within the penalty area. As often happens, the Roman captain was brighter than others. Totti scored from a half-turn, raking a left punch, at the very “nine”, and even above the crown of his head, vainly reaching for the ball on the goal line of low Duly.
However, to regret the risky bet on a veteran who had not had a good goalkeeper practice for a long time (this is with a lively and healthy Pletikos!) Mircea Lucescu will surely have to. Try now to reject the assumptions that, with a more familiar goalkeeper, the defense at critical moments would not lose at once composure and game connections. Surprisingly, the application for Elano’s match belongs to the category of coaching “lack of membership”. The premiere of the recent exhibition match between Brazil and Argentina, among others, freed from a Saturday match in the Ukrainian championship for the Roman match, turned out to be a character on the field, even less noticeable and significant than the jokes mentioned before. And to have an obvious extras on such a day, and even in the control room in the middle line, is luxury on the verge of waste. Perhaps, in part, Shakhtar would have gotten away with it, had it not been for the score 1: 0, which allowed salvation, injuries at the hard worker Matuzalem. It was then that Lucescu “gave the rooster”, lifting Alexei Gai, the midfielder from the reserve, who didn’t smell the powder of the Champions League, and he doesn’t always play in the national championship. Nine minutes later, the guy had to be recalled for replacement with Jadson from the ruins - 3: 0 was on the scoreboard. And the final figures, even more pitiable, brought back to memory the other sad experiences of the Shakhtar’s Lego-Camp’s visits to the Apennines. In 2000, in the same field he was defeated by Lazio - 5: 1, and two years ago - by San Siro already by Milan - 4: 0. The tendency ... Lucescu, however, was involved only in Milan's confusion ...
However, it is worth repeating: before the first goal, the guests were more interesting and sharper than the opponents. In terms of the match, Lucescu clearly rejected the starting winning options. He chose a tactical scheme 4-3-2-1, aimed at dominating the game. In it, even the extreme defenders Srna and Rat were located non-template high and broke into the attack, as soon as the ball came under miner's control. And this courage, even when Elano fell out of the game, even before the intermission could bring Shakhtar by no means a speculative advantage. Marika seized the right flank of the attack and exponentially tore the defensive line of Tonetto and Kivu there. Romanian double-checked lumbago pierced the penalty area and intersected with the trajectories of Brandao jerks. Any of these episodes could turn the game into a storyline outlined by Lucescu. But, to the trouble of the guests, in the first case, their Brazilian forward-battering ram slightly smeared the touch kick from the penalty spot, in the second - from the goalkeeper’s corner, he found himself in Doni, who flew out to meet the threat. And at the beginning of the second half, the same Marika and Brandao lost each in time, which they got after the tempo attacks penetrating the penalty area.
And soon a terrible thing came for Shakhtar. At the chronological equator of the second half, the Roman Brazilian Taddei did not ruin the first scoring chance that fell to him ...
A year ago, Luciano Spaletti surprised Italy by refusing to start in the Champions League, along with Udinese he had brought there. The coach then preferred an invitation to Roma. As a result, his debut in the main Euro tournament was delayed for the whole season - thanks to the “Mujigate”, which raised the Roman club from fifth to second. Spaletti's singing was a success. True, he looked at the assault exploits of his guys with suspicious sadness in his eyes. He probably understood: fortune rarely paid off by her advances ...
Sergey NOVIKOV