Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Marino Pusic has said his team would need to be perfect in order to stand a chance of getting a result on Tuesday night.
Shakhtar have lost one league game since August, but have also failed to win a game in the Champions League this season.
Arsenal have four points in their first two games of the Champions League as they drew with Atalanta and beat Paris Saint-Germain. However, the gunners will need to bounce back from their shock defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Cherries ended Mikel Arteta’s unbeaten streak this season, as well as Arsenal’s perfect away record in 2024.
‘Shakhtar will need to be perfect’ – Marino Pusic
Ahead of their clash on Tuesday night, Shakhtar boss Marino Pusic has said his side will need to be perfect to get a result:
“Every match has its own story, every opponent has its own story. So everything is different every time. Of course, we have our strategy and game plan. Like I said, sometimes this is not enough. There are many circumstances that affect the result. We have to be almost perfect to get a result against this team, and we realise that. But we are here to compete. We will demonstrate our game like we always do, and we will follow our philosophy. And this philosophy will never change as long as I am a coach of Shakhtar. Maybe, some details will be different, but my goal is to win. We always play to win, we do not play to lose. If our opponent is much better than us and forces us to defend, of course, we will have to defend. It is normal and logical. But we are here to compete.”
In an interesting statistic, teams from Ukraine have failed to beat English sides in the last 33 attempts. Marino Pusic hopes to break that record.
“We hope so. It is not only about bad luck: you have to realise that there is a tremendous difference in the quality of two leagues, so it is very difficult for the Ukrainian club to compete at this level. This is a great challenge. We will do our best tomorrow, like we always do. You can never know for sure – it is only one game. And in this game we need to be perfect to get a result. We realise that and will go for it.”
Arsenal will be hoping their recent bad luck does not carry over from the Premier League, where they have had a red card in three games. Thomas Partey has urged his teammates to keep their heads after the Bournemouth game.
