"Everything is possible" - 21-year-old midfielder refuses to rule out future Barcelona transfer
Shakhtar Donetsk star Georgiy Sudakov has refused to rule out a future transfer to Barcelona should an opportunity present itself. The midfielder was asked if he'd fancy wearing the Blaugrana's famed jersey sometime in the future and he left the door wide open.
Recall that Georgiy Sudakov recently came up against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League when Shakhtar Donetsk locked horns with the Catalan giants at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, last month. The midfielder was one of the standout performers during the encounter, putting up an eye-catching display and rounding it up with an amazing goal in a narrow 2-1 defeat for his side.
Commenting on his goal against the Blaugrana, Sudakov explained that he only had only one thing in mind and that was to tie the game. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
“At the moment of the goal I didn’t think about anything," he told SPORT. "I didn’t care that I had scored against Barcelona, even though it was an important goal. At that moment I only had one wish: to tie the game.”
The Ukrainian was then asked whether he would be open to donning the Blaugrana's jersey in the future, to which he responded:
"Why not, everything is possible.”
Sudakov also had words of praise for Xavi's Barcelona, consisting of some amazing young talents such Pablo Gavi, Pedri, Alejandro Balde and capped by 16-year-old Lamine Yamal. The Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder reckoned that it's amazing what the Blaugrana are doing with their young talents.
“It’s certainly amazing to see such young players playing at that level. Not only in terms of skill and technique but also from the psychological point of view of playing for Barcelona, especially at just 16 years old," he said.
Meanwhile, Barca are scheduled to take on Shakhtar Donetsk in their second Champions League group stage face-off tomorrow in Ukraine tomorrow (November 7). Ahead of the encounter, Sudakov reckoned that his side will approach the game with the intention to win.
“We go into every game with the intention of winning and getting a positive result, whether it’s a Ukrainian League match or a Champions League match against Barcelona. Of course, we understand the strength of this opponent and how complicated it will be, but we will give our best, as always,” he stated.
Barcelona looking to seal Champions League knockout phase qualification versus Shakhtar Donetsk
After failing to progress into the knockout phase of the Champions League in each of the last two seasons, Barcelona are now on course to qualify comfortably in this campaign.
As it stands, the Catalan giants sit atop the table in Group H with nine points after winning each of their games in the group stage so far. If they manage to beat Shakhtar Donetsk tomorrow, they'd secure an instant spot in the next round.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian outfit will also be looking to earn a decent result against the Blaugrana to keep their qualification hopes alive. As it stands, they're ranked third in the group with three points - three points behind second-placed Porto with four group-stage games to go in their pool.