Champions League

Shakhtar spend €38m seeking Champions League success

By Olga Sellars ⋅ September 6, 2007 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

It has become commonplace to see two Ukrainian clubs playing in the Champions League. As last year, Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk got through the qualification rounds and into the group stages. Dynamo will now face Manchester United, Roma and Sporting, while Shakhtar must negotiate AC Milan, Celtic and Benfica if they are to make it into the knockout stage.

Although these two sides dominate domestic competitions in Ukraine, any kind of progress in the Champions League would be a great success.

At first glance, it appears that Shakhtar are the likeliest to progress. Despite their tough-looking group, finishing second behind AC Milan looks like an achievable aim. Over the summer, Shakhtar broke all Ukrainian transfer records having paid €8m for Cristiano Lucarelli from Livorno, €10m for Ilsinho from Sao Paulo and €20m for Nery Castillo from Olympiacos. And yet, few in Ukraine will be surprised if Shakhtar fail to make the Champions League second round. Their fans are used to seeing the club’s owner spend more and more on transfers each year without subsequent success in Europe, although this year perhaps there is greater pressure than ever before to recoup some of the close-season outlay via unprecedented progress on the continent.

Shakhtar possess a unique ability to fail to match all expectations in spite of investment worth many millions of euros each summer

Dynamo Kyiv are the traditional representatives of Ukraine in the Champions League, but worrying symptoms of a probable decline were visible last season when Dynamo played out their worst European campaign in their history, humiliated and thrashed by every team in Group E, and they failed even to qualify for the Uefa Cup meaning their European campaign was over before Christmas. This season, Dynamo continued to panic their supporters with their worst ever start in the Vyscha Liga, earning only three points in the first four games and failing to win in that period. However, after that poor opening to the new season, they have since won every game and seem to have found form in time for the start of the Champions League. Still, it will be a difficult task for Dynamo to finish above the likes of Manchester United and Roma.

Two other Ukrainian sides we will see in Europe this season are Metalist and Dnipro, who will both try their best to knock Everton and Aberdeen out of the competition in the first round of the Uefa Cup. Dnipro, who play Aberdeen, had a successful spell in the Uefa Cup earlier in this decade when they reached the last 32 in two successive seasons (03/04 and 04/05). Metalist were last seen playing in Europe in 1988/89, and at that time the club represented the Soviet Union. They face one of the toughest teams in Everton, but have an advantage in that they are a ‘dark horse’ of the competition and are likely to be underestimated. The good news for both British sides, though, is that Ukrainian sides have rarely gone beyond the first round of the Uefa Cup in recent years.

The four sides preparing for a European campaign are currently heading the Ukrainian Vyscha Liga. Of the Ukrainian four, Dnipro appear best placed to get through to the next round though some experts believe Shakhtar will qualify for the next stage of the Champions League but, as mentioned above, the club from Donetsk possesses a unique ability to fail to match all expectations in spite of investment worth many millions of euros. Overall, there are likely to be few surprises caused by the Ukrainian contingent – but try telling the fans that! As in any other season, they have set their hopes high and are ready to live through a new continental dream.

Can Shakhtar spring a surprise in the Champions League? Share your views by leaving a comment below.

Related Articles

• No related posts.