After the draw of his team against Shakhtar, the Manager of Vojvodina Nenad Lalatović stated that he is pleased with the performance of red and whites, who in everything parried the expensive and powerful team from Donetsk.

Vojvodina played 1-1 (0-0) today against Shakhtar in a friendly match played in Belek.

– I have to praise my players. We played against a big team, which is a participant of the Champions League and the Europa League, which played in its strongest squad, and we paired them in all segments of the game, which is appropriate for a representative of Serbian football and a big club such as Vojvodina. I think that today we presented our football in the best possible way and that everyone could see that there are quality players in Serbia – says Lalatović.

According to him, the huge difference in the budgets of the two clubs could not be noticed on the pitch today.

– As for the first 55 minutes of the match, during which one lineup played, I am pleased that we played firmly and aggressively. We won the space phenomenally after taking the ball away and had two hundred percent chances that we did not take advantage of. In the first half, Shakhtar had literally no opportunity to score. In the last 35 minutes, performed slightly younger players, as well as these new ones, who have not yet physically prepared. We scored the goal after a beautiful action, in which Zukić sent a phenomenal pass behind the back of the opponent’s defense, and Neškovic ran, took a shot, their goalkeeper defended, but from that deduction we deservedly took the lead. However, it is very difficult to play against such quality foreigners, and Shakhtar has players for whom huge money has been paid. I spent 3.5 years there and I know how much Rinat Ahmetov invests in his club, and that he pays 15-20 million euros as a compensation for players – notes Lalatović.

He certainly has reason to be satisfied so far during the winter preparations.

– Even today it was seen that Shakhtar’s players are very good quality, but my boys left their heart on the pitch and wanted to show that they can play in a club like Shakhtar. We conceeded the goal through the middle, although I knew that Shakhtar is the most dangerous there, and that is why all the time I was shouting to the players to guard the center and leave them the sides, because their side players also go inside. Still, I think this is a realistic result. What is important to me is that we ran well and no one was injured, just like that we have shown that Novi Sad and the whole of Serbia deserve to watch Vojvodina in qualifications for the Europa League – said Lalatović.

Vojvodina’s players will run on the pitch again tomorrow morning, when they will do training, while in the afternoon they will be free.