Perfect Shakhtar face 'moment of truth'
FC Shakhtar Donetsk have won all 13 of their fixtures this season but Olexandr Kucher and Marko Dević know that Tuesday's Group E trip to Juventus is the "moment of truth".
FC Shakhtar Donetsk duo Olexandr Kucher and Marko Dević are convinced they can continue their fine start to the season at Juventus on Tuesday.
So far Shakhtar have won all ten of their Ukrainian Premier League games, won the Ukrainian Super Cup and knocked FC Dynamo Kyiv out of the Ukrainian Cup. They also defeated FC Nordsjælland 2-0 in their UEFA Champions League Group E opener. However, Juve, who drew at Chelsea FC on matchday one, present a different challenge.
Attacking full-back Kucher, who scored twice in the 3-1 league defeat of Shakhtar a month ago, is confident but wary after Friday's 2-1 win against FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. "Dnipro are in good shape now, but Juve are Juve," he said. "Let's not forget that it will be an away match against the Italian champions.
"The 'Old Lady' have a lot of advantages, but all our other opponents are dangerous, and I'm not speaking only about Chelsea. Many people thought and still think that Nordsjælland are underdogs, but the Danish side put on a good performance in Donetsk. They are on the right track, as they can control the ball properly. So it won't be an easy task to defeat them for anyone.
"The most admirable thing about Juventus is their stability. They are unbeaten in Serie A for a very long time. However, I don't want it to seem like we are scared. We are ready to fight, as we want a positive result."
Dević, who moved to Shakhtar from FC Metalist Kharkiv in the summer, shares his team-mate's thoughts. "Our fans expect us to play well in Turin, so we'll do our best to get a draw at least, as every point could be crucial in the Champions League," he said.
Dević added that despite their 13 wins from as many competitive matches this season, Tuesday's assignment is "the moment of truth". The forward said: "It's a great pleasure to win game by game, but we'll be judged by the matches against Juventus and Chelsea. They are the most important ones for every Shakhtar player.
"There were a lot of emotions in the game against Dnipro, as we missed two penalties but achieved victory. Now it's hard to say whether that will affect our performance in Turin or not. I think that right now the match against Juventus is the most serious test for us."
