Shakhtar head coach Arda Turan shared his thoughts on the first match of the Conference League semi-final against Crystal Palace.

The Pitmen's coach stressed that he expects a difficult match, but the team will try to demonstrate their style of play.

" We know the strength of our opponent, they have a great coach. This is a strong team that represents world football at the highest level. We want to play our own football, take our own steps and show ourselves on the field. We have good experience and a positive mood, but at the same time we understand that it won’t be easy. However, if we talk about the match, we are full of enthusiasm and self-confidence.

I'm very glad that we have reached this level.. I'm a bit of a dreamer and I never give up on my dreams - I always want to believe in them and pass this faith on to the players. You can find many reasons to say that everything could have been different, but now we are trying to give hope to our families and people in Ukraine. Despite the war, people continue to take their children to school, visit cafes, and live their lives. We show that even in such difficult times we do not lose heart and want to demonstrate to the whole world that we do not give up, even if we are at war. This is our mission,” Shakhtar’s official website reports Turan’s words..

The first match of the 1/2 finals of the Conference League Shakhtar - Crystal Palace will take place on Thursday, April 30 in Krakow, Poland at the Henryk Reiman Stadium and will begin at 22:00 Kyiv time.

Earlier it was reported that the game with Crystal Palace would be refereed by a referee familiar to Shakhtar.

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