Lucescu: I hope Dortmund reach the final

06 Mar 2013 10:05:00 AM

The Shakhtar trainer was impressed with BVB's performance over 180 minutes, and feels his side did not deserve to progress

Mircea Lucescu has admitted that Shakhtar Donetsk were not good enough in their Champions League round of 16 tie against Borussia Dortmund, and hopes that the Bundesliga champions will go on to reach the final of the competition.

Shakhtar were beaten 3-0 at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday evening after previously having to settle for a 2-2 draw in the first leg, and Lucescu had nothing but respect for Dortmund.

"I hope Dortmund reach the final as they are a really strong side. I believe Dortmund deserved to go through. Overall, the result corresponds with what we all saw on the pitch," Lucescu stated at a press conference.

"It was really tough to beat this team. Until the 30th minute they didn't create much, while we were looking for a chance on the counter-attack. But then Borussia scored from a corner and that changed almost everything.

"At the half-time break I told the players that we needed to change the game, and you could see that on the field. We had our chances and it's a pity that we didn't take them."

The Ukrainian champions will be looking to return to winning ways at the weekend when they take on Vorskla Poltava.