Luis Castro experienced one of his greatest ever days as a coach in October when he guided Shakhtar Donetsk to a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the Spanish capital.
They looked set to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League based on that display, but two massive defeats to Borussia Monchengladbach have put that aim in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, Castro remains confident of once again defeating the Spanish giants.
Which Real Madrid do you expect to turn up: the one which beat Inter or the one that lost to Alaves?
It happens every weekend, the big teams seem unstable. One day they have a great game with a great performance and then the next day the level is not good. This is a conclusion of mine drawn from the results that the teams are showing. It is difficult to know which Real Madrid we are going to face because the teams are playing every three days and you never know which players are physically available for the coaches.
What kind of game do you expect?
This Champions League group is very strong. Shakhtar are the team that would have the most difficulties playing against Madrid, Inter and Monchengladbach, that was clear. But we do not stop having hope and in this game against Madrid many things will be determined regarding qualification. I hope [to see] a great Real Madrid, the club with the most Champions League titles. It is a very complex job that we have ahead of us, but we have our hopes.
You surprised Madrid with your approach. Do you think you can do it again?
We always want to present a strategy that can cause surprise, that Madrid can fail with and that we can be successful. The strategy will not be the same as the one we presented in Madrid, we will have some changes in the strategy to think clearly about winning the game.
In the group, is this game more decisive for Shakthar than for Madrid?
There are still possibilities for the four [in the group] and I think the group will be decided on the last day. But of course, if Madrid win they will qualify and we will play [to qualify for the] Europa League on the last day. We are used to these games.
Do you think your players are ready to beat Real Madrid again?
In recent years, we have already done this several times. Last year we did not lose a single game away in the Champions League. We drew at City, we beat Atalanta and we drew in Zagreb. We already had that rhythm before playing and winning against Madrid. Clearly our bogey team has been Borussia Monchengladbach. We really think that we have the capacity to do it one more time, to beat Madrid. The recovery time is very short, but we look at our results a lot and we understand that we can always do things that lead to success.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com