Ukraine's Shakhtar gets lucrative lift into Champions League from title races across Europe

Brazil back in force

Shakhtar's past success, winning the UEFA Cup in 2009 and reaching the Champions League quarterfinals in 2011, has been with a core of Brazilian talent: Willian, Luiz Adriano, Fernandinho and Fred. Some of the next generation left in 2022 when FIFA eased binding rules on player contracts. Now Shakhtar has 12 Brazilians in its squad, with only Marlon and Pedrinho aged over 23. “We are not selling them comfort, they understand that,” Palkin said of a team that plays domestic home games in Lviv and UEFA competition games in Krakow in neutral and neighboring Poland. It is, Palkin insists, like being with a Brazilian family in Ukraine: “They will be in their environment, with their language and culture.”

Coach Arda Turan

Arda Turan, the 39-year-old former Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona midfielder, came one year ago to revive a Shakhtar team that finished a surprising third in the league. “He is a coach with our DNA. We understood what kind of football he played,” said Palkin, praising Turan as a good motivator of a young squad.

Air raid alerts at games

Ukrainian games were played in empty stadiums when the league re-started in August 2022. Today spectators are still limited for security reasons by the ability to protect them in shelters from Russian missile attacks. “For us it is normal life," Palkin said. Shkahtar drew crowds of about 2,500 in Lviv to start the season and about 4,200 saw Shakhtar beat defending champion Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 in November.

Champions League home for nomad club

The club owned by Rinat Akhmetov has not yet decided where to play four Champions League “home” games between September and January. Previous ones have been played in Germany. “Our strategy is to increase the geography of our games,” Palkin said. "Ten million people left Ukraine and our fans are everywhere." Shakhtar still hopes to return to Donbas Arena, a state-of-the-art stadium when hosting games at the 2012 European Championship, but seemingly neglected for 12 years during Russian occupation. “All the information we receive is from newspapers," Palkin acknowledged, expressing a desire to return one day. \\\_ AP soccer: